Suppression of c-fos precursor RNA splicing by the protein kinase C inhibitor H7 [1-(5-isoquinolinesulphonyl)-2-methylpiperazine]

Dexamethasone regulation of cFos mRNA in osteoprogenitors

The glucocorticoid, dexamethasone (Dex), has a beneficial effect on osteogenesis by increasing the activation and differentiation of osteoblastic cells. We investigated the effect of Dex on osteoblasts and detected changes in pattern of expression of cFos mRNA. cFos is an early response gene that is expressed as unspliced and spliced mRNAs. We analyzed the regulation of cFos mRNA in correlation with the cell proliferation status and following the induction by Dex. Treatment of osteoblastic cells with Dex for 30 min resulted in elevated levels of spliced form of cFos mRNA, which was maintained with extended treatment of cultured cells for 24 h. In addition, we demonstrated interaction between glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and cFos mRNA. This study provides evidence for the action of Dex on osteoblasts through dynamic cell responses involving with cFos.

Induction of unspliced c-fos messenger RNA in rodent brain by kainic acid and lipopolysaccharide

The c-fos transcriptional factor forms an activator protein-1 (AP-1) complex with proteins from the Jun family, which plays an important role in the central nervous system. The responses of AP-1 transcriptional factors induced by kainic acid (KA) treatment have been well studied, although the transcriptional regulation of these KA-induced factors has not been clearly characterized. To investigate the role of different stimuli in controlling of the splicing of c-fos mRNA, we performed reverse transcriptional polymerase chain reaction. The results showed that spliced and unspliced c-fos is present in rat brain following KA treatment and in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated primary mouse cortical brain cell cultures. Furthermore, tyrosine kinase and protein phosphatase inhibitors alter the preponderance of c-fos transcripts following LPS treatment.

Mitogen-induced up-regulation of non-smooth muscle isoform of alpha-tropomyosin in rat aortic smooth muscle cells

Correlation between the expression of the alpha-tropomyosin isoforms and cell growth was investigated in rat aortic smooth muscle cells. The levels of exon 1a, exons 1a+2a (smooth muscle type) and exons 1a+2b (non-smooth muscle type) were determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). When the cells were cultured, the level of exons 1a+2b transiently increased while reaching a maximum at 3-5 days. When the serum-deprived confluent cells were stimulated with 3-20% serum for 1.5 h, the level of exons 1a+2b increased by about twofold. The 1-(5-isoquinolinesulphonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7) but not 2-[1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-1H-indol-3-yl]-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)-maleimi de (GF 109203X) inhibited this up-regulation. Phorbol-12, 13-dibutyrate (PDB) mimicked the effect of serum. The DNA synthesis as determined by the incorporation of 5-bromo-2'-deoxy-uridine (BrdU) was not enhanced by the 1.5 h stimulation with serum or phorbol ester. The up-regulation of non-smooth muscle isoform of alpha-tropomyosin occurred during G(0)/G(1) transition before entering S phase. Protein phosphorylation is suggested to be involved in the up-regulation. However, the responsible kinase(s) remain to be elucidated.

Protein kinase inhibitor H7 blocks the induction of immediate-early genes zif268 and c-fos by a mechanism unrelated to inhibition of protein kinase C but possibly related to inhibition of phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II

1-(5-Isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H7) has often been used in combination with protein kinase inhibitor (N-(2-guanidinoethyl)-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide) (HA1004) to assess the contribution of protein kinase C (PKC) to cellular processes, including the induction of gene expression. This use of H7 and HA1004 is based upon the fact that H7 inhibits PKC more potently than HA1004 in in vitro assays. Thus, although both compounds are broad spectrum protein kinase inhibitors, inhibition by H7, but not by HA1004, has often been interpreted as evidence for the involvement of PKC in the cellular process under study. Here we describe experiments that show that this interpretation is not correct with regard to the induction of two immediate-early genes, zif268 and c-fos, in PC12D cells. In these studies we confirmed that H7, but not HA1004, potently blocks the induction of zif268 and c-fos mRNA by nerve growth factor, carbachol, phorbol ester, Ca2+ ionophore, or forskolin. Surprisingly, however, H7 has no effect on the ability of these agents to activate mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), an upstream activator of zif268 and c-fos gene expression. H7 also does not inhibit preactivated MAPK in vitro. Taken together, these results suggest that H7 blocks gene expression by acting at a site downstream from MAPK. H7 has previously been shown to block transcription in vitro by blocking the phosphorylation of the carboxyl-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II (Yankulov, K., Yamashita, K., Roy, R., Egly, J.-M., and Bentley, D. L.(1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 23922-23925). In this study, we show that pretreating PC12D cells with H7, but not with HA1004, significantly reduces levels of phosphorylated RNA polymerase II in vivo. These results suggest that H7 blocks gene expression by inhibiting the phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II, a step required for progression from transcription initiation to mRNA chain elongation.

Role of protein kinase C in growth stimulation of primary mouse colonic epithelial cells

The phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (160 nM) and the secondary bile acid, deoxycholic acid (50 microM) stimulated DNA synthesis in quiescent primary epithelial cells from the normal mouse colon as measured by autoradiographic analysis of [3H]thymidine incorporation. The purpose of this present study was to investigate the involvement of protein kinase C in the proliferative response of the normal colonic cells. The protein kinase C inhibitor, bisindolyl-maleimide GF 109203X, efficiently blocked the proliferative response of the cells to the phorbol ester and caused a dose-dependent decrease in the response to deoxycholic acid. While the phorbol ester-induced proliferation was unaffected by another inhibitor, H-7, the response of the cells to deoxycholic acid was blocked. Pretreatment of the cells with the phorbol ester (160 nM) for 24 h blocked the proliferative response to deoxycholic acid. Measurement of the intracellular distribution of protein kinase C activity showed a time-dependent and significant translocation of the enzyme activity from the soluble to the particulate cell fractions after exposure to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. While exposure to the bile acid indicated a similar time-dependent translocation of the enzyme activity, the effect was not significant. The phorbol ester induced a time-dependent accumulation of c-fos mRNA and protein was measured by solution hybridization and immunocytochemistry, respectively. No effect of deoxycholic acid on c-fos expression could be observed in the present study. The data support a role for protein kinase C in the growth stimulating effect of physiological concentrations of deoxycholic acid on normal colonic epithelial cells. However, differences in the mechanisms underlying phorbol ester- and bile acid-induced proliferation are indicated.

Invariant chain (CD74) gene regulation: enhanced expression associated with activation of protein kinase C delta in a murine B lymphoma cell line

The invariant chain (Ii, CD74) is a transmembrane glycoprotein that is transiently associated with the MHC class II antigens in the endoplasmic reticulum and in endocytic vesicles. An activator of protein kinase C (PKC), 12-O-tetradecanoyl-1,2-phorbol 13-acetate (TPA), was found to enhance expression of Ii mRNA in the murine B lymphoma cell line, A20, 6-48 hr following treatment. In contrast, TPA did not induce the Ii in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. TPA addition to either cell line activated PKC. Pretreatment of A20 cells with the PKC inhibitors, staurosporine or chelerythrine chloride, for 5 or 20 min prior to addition of TPA, decreased Ii mRNA levels when compared to cells treated with TPA alone. A 20 min preincubation with the highly specific PKC inhibitor, calphostin C, completely blocked the TPA enhanced expression of the Ii suggesting that activation of PKC was responsible for TPA increased Ii mRNA levels. IFN-gamma also blocked the TPA increased Ii mRNA levels. Constitutive expression of Ii mRNA was decreased by treatment with staurosporine but not chelerythrine chloride or calphostin C, suggesting that non-PKC protein kinases may also be important for maintaining high levels of Ii mRNA in these cells. Western blot analysis using PKC isotype specific antibodies showed that A20 cells express PKC delta abundantly whereas NIH 3T3 cells express primarily PKC alpha. These data suggest that a PKC delta mediated signal transduction pathway plays a crucial role in up-regulation of the Ii.

Reciprocal effects of the protein kinase C inhibitors staurosporine and H-7 on the regulation of glycogen synthase and phosphorylase in the primary culture of hepatocytes

The effects of the protein kinase C inhibitors staurosporine and H-7 [1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine] on glucose-induced regulation of glycogen synthase and phosphorylase activities were investigated in the primary culture of hepatocytes. Glycogen synthesis as measured by the incorporation of [14C]glucose into glycogen was enhanced up to 78% (P < .001) by 100 nmol/L staurosporine. In contrast, H-7 inhibited glycogen synthesis in a dose-dependent manner, with an IC50 value of 70 mumol/L. Activation of glycogen synthase by 30 mmol/L glucose was enhanced significantly (P < .02 and less) by staurosporine at 20 nmol/L and higher concentrations whereas the activity of this enzyme was inhibited by H-7 (IC50 = 50 mumol/L). The inactivation of phosphorylase by glucose was significantly greater when staurosporine was included in the medium. However, H-7 increased the phosphorylase activity ratio by 1.5- to 2.5-fold at concentrations of 20 to 100 mumol/L. The time course of synthase activation and phosphorylase inactivation showed that the effect of glucose was enhanced by staurosporine and inhibited by H-7. These novel reciprocal effects of protein kinase C inhibitors were also observed at different concentrations of glucose. The effects of H-8, a compound with structural resemblance to H-7 and an inhibitor of protein kinase A, were similar to those of staurosporine but not to those of H-7. Staurosporine blocked the effects of vasopressin and 4 beta-phorbol 12 beta-myristate 13 alpha-acetate (PMA), whereas H-7 in combination with these protein kinase C activators acted in the same direction. The effects of staurosporine, a relatively more specific inhibitor of protein kinase C, indicated that this enzyme plays a role in the regulation of glycogen metabolism in liver. However, H-7, which is known to have protein kinase C-independent effects in intact cells, seems to alter the activities of glycogen synthase and phosphorylase by a different mechanism.