Two protein kinases, PK1 and PK2, work sequentially in an intracellular signaling pathway. You create cells that contain inactivating mutations in the genes that encode either PK1 or PK2 and find that these cells no longer respond to a particular extracellular signal. You also create cells containing a version of PK1 that is permanently active and find that the cells behave as though they are receiving the signal even when the signal is not present. When you introduce the permanently active version of PK1 into cells that have an inactivating mutation in PK2, you find that these cells also behave as though they are receiving the signal even when no signal is present. A. From these results, does PK1 activate PK2, or does PK2 activate PK1? Explain your answer.
B. You now create a permanently active version of PK2 and find that cells containing this version behave as though they are receiving the signal even when the signal is not present. What do you predict will happen if you introduce the permanently active version of PK2 into cells that have an inactivating mutation in PK1?