GluA1 (formerly GluR1) AMPA receptor subunit phosphorylation at Ser-831 is an early biochemical marker for long-term potentiation and learning. This site is a substrate for Ca(2+)/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and protein kinase C (PKC). By directing PKC to GluA1, A-kinase anchoring protein 79 (AKAP79) facilitates Ser-831 phosphorylation and makes PKC a more potent regulator of GluA1 than CaMKII. PKC and CaM bind to residues 31-52 of AKAP79 in a competitive manner. Here, we demonstrate that common CaMKII inhibitors alter PKC and CaM interactions with AKAP79(31-52). Most notably, the classical CaMKII inhibitors KN-93 and KN-62 potently enhanced the association of CaM to AKAP79(31-52) in the absence (apoCaM) but not the presence of Ca(2+). In contrast, apoCaM association to AKAP79(31-52) was unaffected by the control compound KN-92 or a mechanistically distinct CaMKII inhibitor (CaMKIINtide). In vitro studies demonstrated that KN-62 and KN-93, but not the other compounds, led to apoCaM-dependent displacement of PKC from AKAP79(31-52). In the absence of CaMKII activation, complementary cellular studies revealed that KN-62 and KN-93, but not KN-92 or CaMKIINtide, inhibited PKC-mediated phosphorylation of GluA1 in hippocampal neurons as well as AKAP79-dependent PKC-mediated augmentation of recombinant GluA1 currents. Buffering cellular CaM attenuated the ability of KN-62 and KN-93 to inhibit AKAP79-anchored PKC regulation of GluA1. Therefore, by favoring apoCaM binding to AKAP79, KN-62 and KN-93 derail the ability of AKAP79 to efficiently recruit PKC for regulation of GluA1. Thus, AKAP79 endows PKC with a pharmacological profile that overlaps with CaMKII.
