ucn-1028-c and 1-2-dioctanoylglycerol

We examined the roles of Ca2+ and protein kinase C (PKC) in the cilio-excitatory response to serotonin in pedal ciliary cells from Helisoma trivolvis embryos. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT; 100 micromol/L) induced an increase in ciliary beat frequency (CBF) was abolished by microinjected BAPTA (50 mmol/L), but was only partially inhibited by the phospholipase C inhibitor U-73122 (10 micromol/L). The diacylglycerol analogs 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (100 micromol/L) and 1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol (100 micromol/L) caused increases in [Ca2+]i that were smaller than those induced by serotonin. In the absence of extracellular Ca2+, 1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol (100 micromol/L) failed to elicit an increase in both CBF and [Ca2+]i. In contrast, the serotonin-induced increase in CBF persisted in the absence of extracellular Ca2+, although the increase in [Ca2+]i was abolished. PKC inhibitors bisindolylmaleimide (10 and 100 nmol/L) and calphostin C (10 nmol/L) partially inhibited the serotonin-induced increase in CBF, but didn't affect the serotonin-induced change in [Ca2+]i. These findings suggest that an intracellular store-dependent increase in [Ca2+]i mediates the cilio-excitatory response to serotonin. Furthermore, although PKC is able to cause an increase in [Ca2+]i through calcium influx, it contributes to the cilio-excitatory response to 5-HT through a different mechanism.

Topics: Animals; Calcium; Cells, Cultured; Cilia; Diglycerides; Embryo, Nonmammalian; Excitatory Amino Acids; Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials; Indoles; Ionomycin; Maleimides; Naphthalenes; Protein Kinase C; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; Serotonin; Snails

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, protein kinase C (PKC), cAMP, and okadaic acid (OA)-sensitive protein phosphatases (PPs) have been suggested to be involved in oocyte meiotic resumption. However, whether these protein kinases and phosphatases act by independent pathways or interact with each other in regulating meiosis resumption is unknown. In the present study, we aimed to determine the regulation of meiosis resumption and MAP kinase phosphorylation by PKC, cAMP, and OA-sensitive PPs in rat oocytes using an in vitro oocyte maturation system and Western blot analysis. We found that ERK1 and ERK2 isoforms of MAP kinases existed in a dephosphorylated (inactive) form in germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD)-incompetent and GVBD-competent germinal vesicle intact (GVI) oocytes as well as GVBD oocytes at equivalent levels. These results indicate that MAP kinases are not responsible for the initiation of normal meiotic resumption in rat oocytes. However, when GVBD-incompetent and GVBD-competent oocytes were incubated in vitro for 5 h, MAP kinases were phosphorylated (activated) in GVBD-competent oocytes, but not in meiotic-incompetent oocytes, suggesting that oocytes acquire the ability to phosphorylate MAP kinase during acquisition of meiotic competence. We also found that both meiosis resumption and MAP kinase phosphorylation were inhibited by PKC activation or cAMP elevation. Moreover, these inhibitory effects were overcome by OA, which inhibited PP1/PP2A activities. These results suggest that both cAMP elevation and PKC activation inhibit meiosis resumption and MAP kinase phosphorylation at a step prior to OA-sensitive protein phosphatases. In addition, inhibitory effects of cAMP elevation on meiotic resumption and MAP kinase phosphorylation were not reversed by calphostin C-induced PKC inactivation, indicating that cAMP inhibits both meiotic resumption and MAP kinase activation in a PKC-independent manner.

Topics: Animals; Blotting, Western; Cyclic AMP; Diglycerides; Enzyme Activation; Enzyme Inhibitors; Female; Kinetics; Meiosis; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; Naphthalenes; Okadaic Acid; Oocytes; Phosphoprotein Phosphatases; Phosphorylation; Protein Kinase C; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate

The hypothesis that protein kinase C (PKC) is able to regulate the whole cell Ca-activated K (KCa) current independently of PKC effects on local Ca release events was tested using the patch-clamp technique and freshly isolated rat tail artery smooth muscle cells dialyzed with a strongly buffered low-Ca solution. The active diacylglycerol analog 1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol (DOG) at 10 microM attenuated the current-voltage (I-V) relationship of the KCa current significantly and reduced the KCa current at +70 mV by 70 +/- 4% (n = 14). In contrast, 10 microM DOG after pretreatment of the cells with 1 microM calphostin C or 1 microM PKC inhibitor peptide, selective PKC inhibitors, and 10 microM 1,3-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol, an inactive diacylglycerol analog, did not significantly alter the KCa current. Furthermore, the catalytic subunit of PKC (PKCC) at 0.1 U/ml attenuated the I-V relationship of the KCa current significantly, reduced the KCa current at +70 mV by 44 +/- 3% (n = 17), and inhibited the activity of single KCa channels at 0 mV by 79 +/- 9% (n = 6). In contrast, 0.1 U/ml heat-inactivated PKCC did not significantly alter the KCa current or the activity of single KCa channels. Thus these results suggest that PKC is able to considerably attenuate the KCa current of freshly isolated rat tail artery smooth muscle cells independently of effects of PKC on local Ca release events, most likely by a direct effect on the KCa channel.

Topics: Animals; Arteries; Calcium; Diglycerides; Electric Conductivity; Enzyme Activation; Enzyme Inhibitors; Isoenzymes; Male; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular; Naphthalenes; Patch-Clamp Techniques; Potassium; Protein Kinase C; Rats; Rats, Inbred WKY; Tail

In the goldfish, it has been proposed that gonadotropin (GTH) release induced by GTH-releasing hormone (GnRH) involves Ca2+ entry through voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels (VSCC), protein kinase C (PKC) activation, and arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism, but not cyclic AMP (cAMP) action. However, cAMP appears to mediate GnRH action in other teleosts. In this study, the relative importance of PKC and cAMP in mediating GnRH action in goldfish was studied using primary cultures of dispersed pituitary cells. Consistent with an involvement of PKC in GnRH action, the GTH responses to the PKC activating tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate (TPA), salmon (s)GnRH, and chicken (c)GnRH-II were inhibited by two selective PKC inhibitors, calphostin C, and staurosporine. Furthermore, GTH release responses induced by sGnRH or cGnRH-II were not additive to responses stimulated by the PKC-activating diglyceride DiC8, in either long-term static incubation or acute perifusion experiments. In static incubation studies, the GTH responses to sGnRH and DiC8 were potentiated by the VSCC agonist Bay K 8644, suggesting that VSCC participates in both PKC and GnRH action. Concentrations of K+ < 100 mM did not elicit GTH secretion when tested alone, but were effective in stimulating GTH release in the presence of subthreshold doses of DiC8 or TPA. This suggests that minimal activation of PKC greatly enhances the effectiveness of Ca2+ influx to increase GTH secretion. Taken together, these results indicate that PKC is an important mediator of GnRH-induced, VSCC-dependent GTH release. In contrast to the involvement of PKG, cAMP-dependent mechanisms showed no evidence of direct participation in GnRH-induced GTH release in goldfish. In static incubation studies, the GTH responses to sGnRH and cGnRH-II were not affected by H89, a cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) inhibitor. Furthermore, the GTH release stimulated by cAMP was additive to the response to sGnRH, cGnRH-II, DiC8, TPA, or AA. However, compared to the response to forskolin or TPA alone, combinations of forskolin and TPA resulted in a potentiated increase in GTH release. The acute GTH response to forskolin was also enhanced by DiC8. Thus, cAMP-dependent mechanisms may constitute an independent pathway that interacts positively with GnRH-dependent mechanisms in the regulation of GTH release.

Topics: 3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester; Alkaloids; Animals; Arachidonic Acid; Calcium Channel Agonists; Cells, Cultured; Chickens; Colforsin; Cyclic AMP; Diglycerides; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Enzyme Inhibitors; Female; Goldfish; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone; Gonadotropins, Pituitary; Male; Microspheres; Naphthalenes; Pituitary Gland; Potassium; Protein Kinase C; Salmon; Signal Transduction; Staurosporine; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate

This study was undertaken to examine the mechanisms involved in polymorphonuclear leukocyte superoxide release stimulated by exogenous phosphatidic acid (PA). Unlike the immediate burst of superoxide release affected by membrane-permeable dioctanoylglycerol (DiC8-DAG), dioctanoyl phosphatidic acid (DiC8-PA) induced superoxide release after a lag period of 5-20 min. This period was considerably reduced or eliminated when cells were primed by substimulatory levels of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). Granule-depleted neutrophil cytoplasts also responded to DiC8-PA with a burst of superoxide generation. Activation of the cytoplast superoxide generating system in response to DiC8-PA was also significantly faster after cells had been preexposed to substimulatory levels of PMA, indicating that at least a portion of the priming mechanism was independent of PMA-induced degranulation. To further examine the potential mechanism of PMA priming of responses to PA, we evaluated the activity of neutrophil ecto-phosphatidic acid phosphohydrolase (ecto-PA phosphohydrolase), which generates diacylglycerol from exogenous PA. PMA priming had no discernable effect on the activity of this enzyme. In addition, propranolol, an inhibitor of PA phosphohydrolase, did not selectively inhibit PMA priming of neutrophil responses to DiC8-PA, indicating that priming did not result from acceleration of DiC8-PA hydrolysis. We therefore investigated the possibility that activation of protein kinase C was the basis of the primed response. Several semiselective protein kinase C inhibitors (calphostin C, H-7, and acylmethylglycerol) inhibited DiC8-DAG- and DiC8-PA-induced superoxide release as well as PMA-primed responses to approximately the same extent. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that neutrophil responses to phosphatidate are mediated by diglyceride generated by the action of ecto-PA phosphohydrolase. PMA priming does not result from increased catalytic activity of ecto-PA phosphohydrolase but rather seems to result from potentiation of an intermediate involved in the cells' response to multiple stimuli.

Topics: 1-(5-Isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-Methylpiperazine; Cell Survival; Cell-Free System; Cytoplasmic Granules; Diglycerides; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Humans; Isoquinolines; Kinetics; Naphthalenes; Neutrophils; Phosphatidic Acids; Piperazines; Protein Kinase C; Superoxides; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) increases 12-lipoxygenase mRNA by about 2-fold with a lag period of 4 to 8 hr, which precedes the increase in 12-lipoxygenase activity by 2 to 4 hr in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells. Induction of 12-lipoxygenase expression in human erythroleukemia cells by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) has been reported previously. The present report describes a study of the involvement of protein kinase C (PKC) in EGF-induced 12-lipoxygenase expression in A431 cells. EGF-induced 12-lipoxygenase expression was inhibited by methyl 2,5-dihydroxycinnamate, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Staurosporine and calphostin C, which are two PKC inhibitors, inhibited EGF-induced enzyme activity and mRNA expression of 12-lipoxygenase. 1,2-Dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol (a membrane-permeant diacylglycerol) and PMA significantly induced enzyme activity and mRNA expression. Simultaneous treatment of cells with EGF and PMA did not exhibit an additive effect, suggesting that EGF and PMA share a common biochemical pathway in 12-lipoxygenase induction. Expression of mRNA for PKC alpha, delta and zeta was detected in A431 cells, whereas no mRNA expression for PKC beta 1, gamma and epsilon was observed. Taken together, these results suggest that EGF-induced 12-lipoxygenase expression is at least in part mediated by the PKC signal transduction pathway.

Topics: Alkaloids; Arachidonate 12-Lipoxygenase; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Diglycerides; Enzyme Induction; Epidermal Growth Factor; Humans; Naphthalenes; Phosphatidylinositol Phosphates; Polycyclic Compounds; Protein Kinase C; Staurosporine; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate; Tumor Cells, Cultured

The shape changes and membrane ruffling that accompany neutrophil activation are dependent on the assembly and reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton, the molecular basis of which remains to be clarified. A role of protein kinase C (PKC) has been postulated because neutrophil activation, with the attendant shape and membrane ruffling changes, can be initiated by phorbol esters, known activators of PKC. It has become apparent, however, that multiple isoforms of PKC with differing substrate specificities exist. To reassess the role of PKC in cytoskeletal reorganization, we compared the effects of diacylglycerol analogs and of PKC antagonists on kinase activity and on actin assembly in human neutrophils. Ruffling of the plasma membrane was assessed by scanning EM, and spatial redistribution of filamentous (F)-actin was assessed by scanning confocal microscopy. Staining with NBD-phallacidin and incorporation of actin into the Triton X-100-insoluble ("cytoskeletal") fraction were used to quantify the formation of (F)-actin. [32P]ATP was used to detect protein phosphorylation in electroporated cells. Exposure of neutrophils to 4 beta-PMA (an activator of PKC) induced protein phosphorylation, membrane ruffling, and assembly and reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton, whereas the 4a-isomer, which is inactive towards PKC, failed to produce any of these changes. Moreover, 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol, mezerein, and 3-(N-acetylamino)-5-(N-decyl-N-methylamino)-benzyl alcohol, which are nonphorbol activators of PKC, also promoted actin assembly. Although these effects were consistent with a role of PKC, the following observations suggested that stimulation of conventional isoforms of the kinase were not directly responsible for actin assembly: (a) Okadaic acid, an inhibitor of phosphatases 1 and 2A, potentiated PMA-induced protein phosphorylation, but not actin assembly; and (b) PMA-induced actin assembly and membrane ruffling were not prevented by the conventional PKC inhibitors 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine, staurosporine, calphostin C, or sphingosine at concentrations that precluded PMA-induced protein phosphorylation and superoxide production. On the other hand, PMA-induced actin assembly was inhibited by long-chain fatty acid coenzyme A esters, known inhibitors of nuclear PKC (nPKC). We conclude that PMA-induced actin assembly is unlikely to be mediated by the conventional isoforms of PKC, but may be mediated by novel isoforms of the kinase such as

Topics: 1-(5-Isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-Methylpiperazine; Alkaloids; Cell Membrane; Diglycerides; Enzyme Activation; Humans; Isoquinolines; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine; NADH, NADPH Oxidoreductases; NADPH Oxidases; Naphthalenes; Neutrophils; Piperazines; Polycyclic Compounds; Protein Kinase C; Sphingosine; Staurosporine; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate

Diacylglycerols, which are generated during phospholipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of phospholipids, stimulated actin polymerization in the presence of highly purified plasma membranes from the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum. The increased rate of actin polymerization apparently resulted from de novo formation of actin nucleation sites rather than uncapping of existing filament ends, because the membranes lacked detectable endogenous actin. The increased actin nucleation was mediated by a peripheral membrane component other than protein kinase C, the classical target of diacylglycerol action. These results indicate that diacylglycerols increase actin nucleation at plasma membranes and suggest a mechanism whereby signal transduction pathways may control cytoskeletal assembly.

Topics: Actins; Alkaloids; Animals; Calcium; Cell Membrane; Dictyostelium; Diglycerides; Kinetics; Macromolecular Substances; Naphthalenes; Polycyclic Compounds; Protein Kinase C; Staurosporine; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate; Time Factors