Utilizing protein phosphatase inhibitors to define PP2A as a regulator of ataxia-telangiectasia mutated.

Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) is a serine/threonine protein kinase that plays a central role in controlling the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks caused by ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation induces the autophosphorylation of ATM on serine 1981; however, the precise mechanisms that regulate ATM autophosphorylation are not fully understood. By treating cells with okadaic acid, a cell-permeable protein phosphatase inhibitor, together with assays to quantify the activity of particular protein phosphatases, we have demonstrated that the autophosphorylation of ATM on serine 1981 is regulated by a protein phosphatase 2A-like activity. Here, we describe the series of experiments that employed protein phosphatase inhibitors to establish that ATM was regulated by a type-2A protein phosphatase.