Protein kinase C modulates cAMP content in proximal tubular cells: role of phosphodiesterase inhibition.

The present study was designed to evaluate whether protein kinase C (PKC) activation affects hormone-modulated adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) accumulation in rabbit renal proximal tubular cells in primary culture. When intracellular cAMP content was measured in the presence of Ro 20-1724, a selective inhibitor of type III phosphodiesterase (PDE), activation of PKC by the phorbol ester phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) or by diacylglycerol kinase inhibitor R 59022 reinforced parathyroid hormone (PTH)- and forskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation. During PKC activation, the inhibitory effect of norepinephrine on cAMP content persisted, whereas that of angiotensin II (ANG II) was blunted. In contrast, PKC activators had no effect on cAMP content during PDE blockade by the nonspecific inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX). These data suggested that PKC might affect cAMP degradation through inactivation of a Ro 20-1724-insensitive PDE. The possibility that the involved PDE was calcium sensitive was assessed; during PDE inhibition by Ro 20-1724, but not by IBMX, calcium ionophore A23187 inhibited PTH-stimulated cAMP accumulation and PMA abolished the effect of A23187. Finally, neither PKC inhibition by staurosporine nor its downregulation modified the magnitude of PTH-induced cAMP accumulation. In conclusion, 1) in proximal tubular cells PKC affects cAMP degradation rather than synthesis, possibly via inactivation of a calcium-sensitive PDE; 2) PKC modulates PTH-ANG II interaction; and 3) this pathway is likely to play a role in the fine tuning of the effect of PTH and ANG II in the proximal tubule.