Figure 9 (A) Plk1 activity in cultured oocytes. Cultured oocytes (100 oocytes per time point) were collected at the indicated times to assess Plk1 activity. Some WT oocytes (100 oocytes) were treated with cilostamide (10 µM) for 4 h, and some PDE3A-/- oocytes (100 oocytes) were treated with the PKA inhibitor, Rp-cAMP (5 mM), for 2 h and then incubated in the absence of Rp-cAMP for 2 h before Plk1 assay. Plk1 was immunprecipitated from oocyte lysates. Plk1 activity was assayed by incubation of immunoprecipitated Plk1 with 32P-ATP and α-casein substrate as described in methods. After Phosphor Imager analysis of wet gels to measure 32P-labelled α-casein, SDS PAGE gels were electro-transferred to membranes for western blots for detection of immunoreactive oocyte Plk1. n = 3 experiments. (B) Phosphorylation/inactivation of rPlk1 by purified PKAc in vitro. As described in methods, rPlk1 was incubated with indicated units of purified PKAc and 32P-ATP at 30°C for 15 min; PKI (4 µM) was added to terminate the reaction. To half volume of the mixture, dephosphorylated α-casein substrate (0.5 mg/ml) was added, to assess Plk1 activity i.e., Plk1-induced phosphorylation of α-casein. The other half volume was used for Plk1 immunoprecipitation to check PKAc-induced phosphorylation of rPlk1. Results showed that purified PKAc phosphorylated rPlk1 in vitro and inhibited its activity. n = 5 experiments. (C) PDE3A co-immunoprecipitates with Plk1 in mice ovary and Hela cells. As described in methods, total lysates were prepared from WT mouse ovaries (to increase the amount of material available) (0.6 mg/IP) and Hela cells (2.0 mg/IP) and incubated with anti-PDE3A or anti-Plk1 antibodies or non-immine IgG. Immunoprecipitates were subjected to SDS PAGE and western blots, using the indicated primary antibodies. PDE3A and Plk1 co-immunoprecipitated in lysates from mouse ovary and Hela cells. n = 3 experiments. (D) PKA inhibited endogenous Plk1 activity in vitro and Plk1 interacted with PDE3A-PKAc macromolecular complex in Hela cells. (Upper part) Endogenous Plk1 was immunoprecipitated from Hela cells (1 mg/IP), followed by incubation of immunoprecipitated Plk1 (beads) with indicated units of purified PKAc and 32P-ATP at 30°C for 15 min; PKI (4 µM) was added to terminate the reaction. PKAc-induced phosphorylation of Hela cell Plk1 and inhibition of Plk1-induced phosphorylation of “-casein substrate were analyzed as described in methods and in legend to (B). (Lower part): Hela cells were homogenized in ice-cold buffer A [50 mM Hepes, 1 mM EDTA, 10 mM pyrophosphate, 5 mM MgCl2, 5 mM NaF, 100 mM NaCl, 0.1 µM okadaic acid, phosphatase inhibitor cocktail (Calbiochem) and Roche protease inhibitor cocktail (pH 7.5)] with dounce homogenizer (on ice, 20 strokes), sonicated (on ice, 20 pulses, 40% duty cycle, output scale 4), and solubilized with 1% NP-40 (Calbiochem) (1% final). Samples were cleared by incubation (1 h) with 5 µg non-immune IgG, and then with Dynabeads protein G (Invitrogen, Cat# 100.04D) for 30 min before centrifugation (2,800 g, 4°C, 5 min). Cleared lysates from Hela cells (2 mg/IP) were incubated (overnight, 4°C) with mouse anti-Plk1 (10 µg/IP) (Millipore, Cat# 05-844) and non-immune mouse IgG (10 µg/IP), followed by incubation (1 h) with fresh Dynabeads protein G as described in methods. Immunoblot data indicated that Plk1 co-immunoprecipitated with PDE3A, PKA-C, PP2A and Cdc25C. n = 3 experiments. (E) Subcelluar localization of Plk1 and PDE3A in WT and PDE3A-/- oocytes. As described in methods, at the indicated times, cultured oocytes were collected, fixed, and assessed for immunofluorescence of PDE3A and Plk1. In freshly prepared WT oocytes, Plk1 was detected in the cytoplasm, with some localization at MTOCs. Within 1 hour, Plk1 migrated into the nucleus, and at GVBD, it was detected at MTOCs and kinetochores. In cultured WT oocytes PDE3A was partly co-localized with Plk1 at the spindle apparatus. In cultured PDE3A-/- oocytes, even after 4 hours, Plk1 immunofluorescence was only detected in the cytoplasm, with some localization at MTOCs, but not in the nucleus. No PDE3A signal was detected in PDE3A-/- oocytes. n = 3 experiments. Bar, 20 µm.