A role of protein kinase C mu in signalling from the human adenosine A1 receptor to the nucleus.

1 Stimulation of adenosine A(1) receptors produced a stimulation of c-fos promoter-regulated gene transcription in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-A1 cells expressing the human A(1) receptor. Gene transcription was monitored using a luciferase-based reporter gene (pGL3). 2 This response to the A(1) receptor agonist N(6)-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA) was sensitive to inhibition by pertussis toxin, the MEK-1 inhibitor PD 98059 and by the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase inhibitors wortmannin and LY 294002. The response was also completely abolished by the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor Ro-31-8220. 3 Several isoforms of PKC can be detected in CHO-A1 cells (alpha, delta, epsilon, micro, iota, zeta), but only PKC alpha, PKC delta and PKC were downregulated by prolonged treatment with phorbol ester. The c-fos-regulated luciferase response to A(1) agonists was not, however, inhibited by 24 h pretreatment with the phorbol esters phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu). This observation, together with the fact that a significant attenuation (40%) of the c-fos-luciferase response to PDBu and A(1) agonist was produced by low concentrations of the PKC inhibitor Gö 6976 suggests a role for PKC micro. 4 Stimulation of CHO-A1 cells with CPA stimulated the activation of endogenous PKC micro as measured by autophosphorylation. This was rapid, occurred within 1-2 min, but returned to basal levels after 30 min. Furthermore, transient expression of a constitutively active form of PKC micro resulted in a significant increase in c-fos-regulated gene expression. 5 Taken together, these data suggest that PKC micro plays an important role in the ability of the adenosine A(1) receptor to signal to the nucleus.