Calcium-dependent calmodulin
stimulation of active nuclear import in vitro. HeLa
cells were permeabilized with digitonin and assayed for nuclear
transport in the absence of rabbit reticulocyte lysate, but in the
presence of 30 μM calmodulin (Calbiochem, high purity)
and 9.2 μM calcium (A). Incubations were also carried out
in the absence of creatine kinase, creatine phosphate, or ATP, but in
the presence of 6 units/μl hexokinase and 6 mM glucose
(B), in the presence of 0.4 mg/ml wheat germ agglutinin
(C), at 4°C (D), with B-phycoerythrin bearing
an altered targeting peptide that is not sufficient to support
transport to the nucleus (ref. 17, E), or in the absence
of added calmodulin (F). Nuclear import was
assayed at varying calcium concentrations (G) in the
presence of 30 μM calmodulin and ATP in the absence
(○, broken line) or presence (•, solid line) of 1
mM GTP, or in the presence of 5 mM GTPγS (□). Data
represent the mean ± SD (not included for assays in the presence
of GTPγS) of two independent experiments. Images in E
and F were obtained with an 100× oil immersion
objective; all other images were collected with a 63× objective.