Although the biochemical mechanism of action of phorbol ester tumour promoters is not fully understood, it is known that phorbol ester binding to the cell surface causes rapid changes in calcium flux and phospholipid metabolism. A protein kinase activity has recently been described which is dependent on calcium and acidic phospholipids and is further enhanced by diacylglycerol. Previously, we have observed that phorbol ester treatment of EL4 mouse thymoma cells causes a rapid decrease in cytosolic calcium, phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (Ca, PL-PK) activity, which is mediated through the specific phorbol ester cell-surface receptors identified on EL4 cells. We now show that treatment of parietal yolk sacs (PYS-2) cells with biologically active 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) provokes a rapid decrease in cytosolic Ca, PL-PK activity that is accompanied by a significant increase in the amount of Ca, PL-PK activity associated with the plasma membrane fraction. These results suggest that the rapid and tight association of Ca, PL-PK activity with the plasma membrane may be an early event in mediating some of the effects of phorbol esters.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Activation of protein kinase C potentiates isoprenaline-induced cyclic AMP accumulation in rat pinealocytes.

The pineal gland has proven to be an excellent model for the study of adrenergic control systems. Noradrenaline, released from sympathetic nerve terminals in the pineal gland, regulates a large nocturnal increase in melatonin synthesis by stimulating the activity of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (NAT, EC 2.3.1.87) 30-70-fold. An essential step in both the induction and maintenance of high NAT activity is an increase in intracellular cyclic AMP. Noradrenaline acts via beta-adrenoceptors to increase pineal cyclic AMP by activating adenylate cyclase, and the activation of pineal alpha 1-adrenoceptors potentiates beta-adrenergic stimulation not only of NAT but of both cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP. Here we describe investigations designed to test whether alpha 1-adrenergic potentiation of beta-adrenergic stimulation of pineal cyclic AMP involves protein kinase C. Our results suggest that kinase activation is involved and the data provide the first demonstration of a synergistic interaction between Ca2+-phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase C) and neurotransmitter-dependent stimulation of cyclic AMP.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Interleukin-2 stimulates association of protein kinase C with plasma membrane.

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a regulatory peptide important for the growth and differentiation of antigen-specific T lymphocytes and large granular lymphocytes. Interaction of IL-2 with its specific receptor results in the promotion of S-phase progression as well as, in certain circumstances, the production and release of gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma). Although the binding of IL-2 with high-affinity specific receptors has been well characterized, the intracellular mechanisms by which this ligand-receptor interaction promotes growth and differentiation are unknown. Here, we present evidence that IL-2/receptor interaction produces a rapid and transient redistribution of protein kinase C (PK-C) from the cytosol to the plasma membrane. Phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) also induces PK-C transposition in an analogous manner, except that PMA-induced PK-C transposition to the plasma membrane is apparently protracted. As phorbol esters have been shown to mimic IL-2 in the regulation of cellular proliferation as well as IFN-gamma production, the activation of PK-C by either phorbol esters or IL-2/receptor interaction seems to have a crucial role in signal transduction elicited by these extracellular messengers.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Altered cytosol/membrane enzyme redistribution on interleukin-3 activation of protein kinase C.

Interleukin-3 (IL-3) is a member of a family of growth and differentiation peptides, collectively referred to as colony-stimulating factors, which regulate haematopoiesis. IL-3 has been highly purified from medium conditioned by WEHI-3B cells, and recently the molecular cloning of complementary DNA for murine IL-3 has been reported. IL-3 seems to stimulate a wide range of colony-forming cells derived from murine bone marrow and has consequently been studied under a variety of names, including burst-promoting activity, mast cell growth factor, P-cell stimulating factor and multi-colony-stimulating factor. Here we present evidence that IL-3-receptor interaction stimulates the rapid and transient redistribution of protein kinase C (PK-C) from cytosol to plasma membrane in FDC-P1 cells. Phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) is shown to have a similar effect in these IL-3-dependent FDC-P1 cells. Our data suggest that IL-3 and phorbol esters share a common feature of transmembrane signalling crucial for growth and differentiation.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Monovalent cation-insensitive hydrophobic region on calmodulin facilitates the rapid isolation and quantitation of calmodulin free from other Ca2+-dependent hydrophobic proteins.

Calmodulin binds quantitatively to phenyl-Sepharose through its Ca2+-induced hydrophobic binding region. Troponin C and S-100 protein, as well as several other proteins present in rat tissues, also bind to phenyl-Sepharose in a Ca2+-dependent manner. While the Ca2+-dependent binding of calmodulin to phenyl-Sepharose is not altered appreciably by monovalent cations, they do appear to compete for Ca2+ binding to most of the other proteins, including S-100 protein, which exhibit Ca2+-induced interaction with phenyl-Sepharose. The selective elution of these proteins from the phenyl-Sepharose column can be achieved with a 0.5 M concentration of monovalent cations such as K+, Na+, and NH4+ in the presence of a low (100 microM) Ca2+ concentration. Calmodulin-binding proteins associated with calmodulin in crude cell extracts can prevent the interaction of calmodulin with the phenyl-Sepharose, resulting in low recoveries of calmodulin from these tissues. The majority of these interfering proteins are heat labile so that heat treatment (boiling) of the cell extract for a limited time (5 min) negates any binding of these proteins to calmodulin and allows the quantitative recovery of calmodulin by hydrophobic interaction chromatography. This procedure allows the rapid and quantitative recovery of highly purified calmodulin from both cytosolic and Triton X-100-solubilized particulate fractions prepared from various rat tissues. Calmodulin isolated in this manner can be accurately and reliably quantitated by direct protein determination with Coomassie brilliant blue dye or fluorescamine or by the cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase stimulation assay.

3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Inhibition of Raf-1 protein kinase by antisense phosphorothioate oligodeoxyribonucleotide is associated with sensitization of human laryngeal squamous carcinoma cells to gamma radiation.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest a central role for Raf-1 protein kinase in mitogenic and radiation damage responsive signaling pathways. PURPOSE: Here we report that the expression and enzymatic activity of Raf-1 protein are inhibited in SQ-20B cells exposed to raf antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotide (As-ODNs) directed against the translation initiation site of human c-raf-1 cDNA. In contrast, treatment of SQ-20B cells with an equimolar concentration of raf sense oligodeoxy-ribonucleotide (S-ODNs) had no effect on the expression and activity of Raf-1. RESULTS: We have observed radiosensitization of raf As-ODNs-treated SQ-20B cells. The dose modifying factor of As-ODNs treatment was approximately 1.4. CONCLUSIONS: These studies demonstrate that raf As-ODNs is a DNA sequence-specific radiosensitizer that may have potential for use in the radiation therapy of cancers.

Base Sequence↗