Evidence for a modulation of neutral trehalase activity by Ca2+ and cAMP signaling pathways in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae neutral trehalase (encoded by NTH1) is regulated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) and by an endogenous modulator protein. A yeast strain with knockouts of CMK1 and CMK2 genes (cmk1cmk2) and its isogenic control (CMK1CMK2) were used to investigate the role of CaM kinase 11 in the in vitro activation of neutral trehalase during growth on glucose. In the exponential growth phase, cmk1cmk2 cells exhibited basal trehalase activity and an activation ratio by PKA very similar to that found in CMK1CMK2 cells. At diauxie, even though both cells presented comparable basal trehalase activities, cmk1cmk2 cells showed reduced activation by PKA and lower total trehalase activity when compared to CMK1CMK2 cells. To determine if CaM kinase 11 regulates NTH1 expression or is involved in post-translational modulation of neutral trehalase activity, NTH1 promoter activity was evaluated using an NTH1-lacZ reporter gene. Similar beta-galactosidase activities were found for CMK1CMK2 and cmk1cmk2 cells, ruling out the role of CaM kinase It in NTH1 expression. Thus, CaM kinase 11 should act in concert with PKA on the activation of the cryptic form of neutral trehalase. A model for trehalase regulation by CaM kinase 11 is proposed whereby the target protein for Ca2+/CaM-dependent kinase 11 phosphorylation is not the neutral trehalase itself. The possible identity of this target protein with the recently identified trehalase-associated protein YLR270Wp is discussed.