EXPERIMENTAL and MOLECULAR MEDICINE, Vol. 33, No. 4, 198-204, December 2001 Effect of serum and hydrogen peroxide on the Ca2+/calmodulin- dependent phosphorylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2(eEF-2) in Chinese hamster ovary cells Kee Ryeon Kang1,2 and So-Young Lee1 Introduction 1 Department of Biochemistry and Gyeongsang Institute of Health The regulation of protein synthesis in eukaryotes is inte- Science, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, grated with the translation process and other metabolic Chinju 660-751, Korea pathways of the cell, i.e. altered translation rates occur 2 Corresponding author: Tel, +82-55-751-8730; during mitosis, upon nutrient starvation or oxidant stress, Fax, +82-55-759-8005; E-mail,
[email protected] and following treatment with hormones or growth factors. The process of mRNA translation takes place by three Accepted 30 November 2001 distinct phases termed (peptide-chain) initiation, elonga- tion, and termination. The acute regulation of mRNA Abbreviations: eEF-2, eukaryotic elongation factor 2; CaM, calmod- translation depends on changes in the activity of initia- ulin; CHO, Chinese hamster ovary tion factors or elongation factors, which is also common- ly mediated by alteration in their states of phosphory- lation (Hershey et al., 1996). Elongation factor 2 (eEF- 2), one of two elongation factors involved in the elonga- Abstract tion phase of translation in higher eukaryotes, facilitates translocation of peptidyl-tRNA from the ribosomal A site Eukaryotic elongation factor eEF-2 mediates regula- to the P site. Phosphorylation of eEF-2 reduces the tory steps important for the overall regulation of affinity of the factor for the ribosome, thereby decreasing mRNA translation in mammalian cells and is acti- the rate of protein synthesis (Nilsson and Nygard, 1991).