The WD-repeat protein receptor for activated C-kinase (RACK1) was identified by its interaction with the cyclic AMP-specific phosphodiesterase (PDE4) isoform PDE4D5 in a yeast two-hybrid screen. The interaction was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation of native RACK1 and PDE4D5 from COS7, HEK293, 3T3-F442A, and SK-N-SH cell lines. The interaction was unaffected by stimulation of the cells with the phorbol ester phorbol 2-myristate 3-acetate. PDE4D5 did not interact with two other WD-repeat proteins, '-coatomer protein and G s , in two-hybrid tests. RACK1 did not interact with other PDE4D isoforms or with known PDE4A, PDE4B, and PDE4C isoforms. PDE4D5 and RACK1 interacted with high affinity (K a approximately 7 pM) when they were expressed and purified from Escherichia coli, demonstrating that the interaction does not require intermediate proteins. The binding of the E. coli-expressed proteins did not alter the kinetics of cAMP hydrolysis by PDE4D5 but caused a 3-4-fold change in its sensitivity to inhibition by the PDE4 selective inhibitor rolipram. The subcellular distributions of RACK1 and PDE4D5 were extremely similar, with the major amount of both proteins (70%) in the high speed supernatant (S2) fraction. Analysis of constructs with specific deletions or single amino acid mutations in PDE4D5 demonstrated that a small cluster of amino acids in the unique amino-terminal region of PDE4D5 was necessary for its interaction with RACK1. We suggest that RACK1 may act as a scaffold protein to recruit PDE4D5 and other proteins into a signaling complex.Modulation of the levels of the second messenger cAMP in cells is important in the regulation of numerous physiological processes, including those in the immune/inflammatory systems, vascular smooth muscle, and the brain. Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs) 1 are a diverse family of enzymes that hydrolyze cAMP and cGMP and thus play an important role in modulating cAMP levels (1). The cAMP-specific phosphodiesterases (PDE4s) can be differentiated from other PDEs by sequence homology of the catalytic region of the enzymes (2) and by their ability to be specifically inhibited by the drug rolipram. Rolipram and other specific PDE4 inhibitors have been shown to have anti-depressant, anti-inflammatory, and smooth muscle relaxant activity in humans (2). The PDE4 enzymes are also characterized by the presence of unique regions of amino acid sequence outside the catalytic region of the proteins, which are called upstream conserved regions 1 and 2 (UCR1 and UCR2) and are located in the amino-terminal half of the proteins (3). The PDE4s are comprised of a large family of isoforms, encoded by four different genes (PDE4A, PDE4B, PDE4C, and PDE4D) in humans, with additional diversity being generated by alternative mRNA splicing (2). We and other groups (3-5) have characterized five different isoforms encoded by the human PDE4D gene, all of which appear to be conserved among mammals (6, 7). The five isoforms differ by the substitution of unique blocks of amino acids at the...