The plasma membrane translocation of diacylglycerol kinase δ1 is negatively regulated by conventional protein kinase C-dependent phosphorylation at Ser-22 and Ser-26 within the pleckstrin homology domain

DGK (diacylglycerol kinase) regulates the concentration of two bioactive lipids, diacylglycerol and phosphatidic acid. DGKδ1 or its PH (pleckstrin homology) domain alone has been shown to be translocated to the plasma membrane from the cytoplasm in PMA-treated cells. In the present study, we identified Ser-22 and Ser-26 within the PH domain as the PMA- and epidermal-growth-factor-dependent phosphorylation sites of DGKδ1. Experiments in vitro and with intact cells suggested that the cPKC (conventional protein kinase C) phosphorylated these Ser residues directly. Puzzlingly, alanine/asparagine mutants at Ser-22 and Ser-26 of DGKδ1 and its PH domain are still persistently translocated by PMA treatment, suggesting that the PH domain phosphorylation is not responsible for the enzyme translocation and that the translocation was caused by a PMA-dependent, but cPKC-independent, process yet to be identified. Interestingly, the aspartate mutation, which mimics phosphoserine, at Ser-22 or Ser-26, inhibited the translocation of full-length DGKδ1 and the PH domain markedly, suggesting that the phosphorylation regulates negatively the enzyme translocation. Our results provide evidence of the phosphorylation of the DGKδ1 PH domain by cPKC, and suggest that the phosphorylation is involved in the control of subcellular localization of DGKδ1.