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A 13-kDa phosphoamidase was isolated as a single band on SDS-PAGE from bovine liver. Its Stokes' radius, sedimentation coefficient, molecular mass, and optimal pH were estimated to be 1.6 nm, 1.8 s, 13 kDa, and 6.5, respectively. The enzyme released P(i) from 3-phosphohistidine, 6-phospholysine, and amidophosphate at rates of 0.9, 0.6, and 2.6 micromol/min/mg protein, respectively. However, it did not dephosphorylate phosphocreatine, N(omega)-phosphoarginine, imidodiphosphate, or O-phosphorylated compounds including inorganic pyrophosphate. It also dephosphorylated succinic thiokinase and nucleoside diphosphate kinase autophosphorylated at His residues, indicating that it works as a protein histidine phosphatase. A thiol reagent, 30 microM N-ethylmaleimide, depressed the activity by half, while a thiol compound, 2-mercaptoethanol, protected the enzyme from heat-inactivation. Five millimolar divalent cations, such as Mg2+ and Mn2+, and 5 mM EDTA, had no effect on the activity.

A high salt extract of bovine brain was found to contain a protein kinase which catalyzed the phosphorylation of heavy chain of brain myosin. The protein kinase, designated as myosin heavy chain kinase, has been purified by column chromatography on phosphocellulose, Sephacryl S-300, and hydroxylapatite. During the purification, the myosin heavy chain kinase was found to co-purify with casein kinase II. Furthermore, upon polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the purified enzyme under non-denaturing conditions, both the heavy chain kinase and casein kinase activities were found to comigrate. The purified enzyme phosphorylated casein, phosvitin, troponin T, and isolated 20,000-dalton light chain of gizzard myosin, but not histone or protamine. The kinase did not require Ca2+-calmodulin, or cyclic AMP for activity. Heparin, which is known to be a specific inhibitor of casein kinase II, inhibited the heavy chain kinase activity. These results indicate that the myosin heavy chain kinase is identical to casein kinase II. The myosin heavy chain kinase catalyzed the phosphorylation of the heavy chains in intact brain myosin. The heavy chains in intact gizzard myosin were also phosphorylated, but to a much lesser extent. The heavy chains of skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle myosins were not phosphorylated to an appreciable extent. Although the light chains isolated from brain and gizzard myosins were efficiently phosphorylated by the same enzyme, the rates of phosphorylation of these light chains in the intact myosins were very small. From these results it is suggested that casein kinase II plays a role as a myosin heavy chain kinase for brain myosin rather than as a myosin light chain kinase.

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