Abstract
The regional and cellular distribution of G-substrate, a 23,000-dalton protein substrate specific for guanosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate- dependent protein kinase, has been examined in mammalian brain using immunoprecipitation, radioimmunoassay, and peptide-mapping techniques. In rabbit brain, G-substrate was found to be highly concentrated in the cerebellum. The concentration of G-substrate in cerebellar cytosol was 27.2 pmol/mg. The concentrations of G-substrate in cortex, hippocampus, and caudate were only 1 to 2% of that found in cerebellum. Studies of neurological mutant mice lacking either Purkinje cells (PCD and nervous) or granule cells (weaver) suggested that, within the cerebellum, G-substrate is localized almost exclusively in Purkinje cells. A phosphoprotein present in noncerebellar brain regions, which co-migrated with G-substrate on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, was shown by peptide mapping to consist predominantly of phosphatase inhibitor-1. Phosphatase inhibitor-1, a potent inhibitor of protein phosphatase-1, is known to share several physicochemical properties with G-substrate. In contrast to the results obtained with G-substrate, the concentration of phosphatase inhibitor-1 was significantly lower in cerebellum than in other major brain regions. These and other data suggest that G-substrate may be a Purkinje cell-specific protein phosphatase inhibitor.