Differential regulation of histamine- and bradykinin-stimulated phospholipase C in adrenal chromaffin cells: evidence for involvement of different protein kinase C isoforms.

In this report we investigate the isoforms of protein kinase C (PKC) present in cultured adrenal chromaffin cells with respect to their modulation by treatment with phorbol ester and their possible differential involvement in the regulation of responses to histamine and bradykinin. The presence of individual isoforms of PKC was investigated by using eight isoform specific antisera, as a result of which PKC-alpha, epsilon, and zeta were identified. To characterize down-regulation of these enzymes, cells were incubated for 6-48 h with 1 microM phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). PKC-epsilon down-regulated more rapidly than PKC-alpha. At 12 h, PMA pretreatment, for example, PKC-epsilon was maximally down-regulated (23 +/- 4% of controls), whereas PKC-alpha was unchanged. PKC-alpha showed partial down-regulation by 24 h of PMA pretreatment. PKC-zeta did not down-regulate at any of the times tested. Translocation from cytosol to membrane in response to PMA was also more rapid for PKC-epsilon than for PKC-alpha. The accumulation of total 3H-inositol (poly) phosphates in response to bradykinin or histamine was essentially abolished by prior treatment with 10-min PMA treatment (1 microM). However, with 12-h exposure to PMA, the bradykinin response was restored to the level seen with no prior PMA exposure. The histamine response showed no recovery by 12 h of PMA, but showed partial recovery by 24 h of PMA pretreatment. These observations showed that the restoration of the response to bradykinin corresponds to the loss of PKC-epsilon, whereas the restoration of the histamine response corresponds to the loss of PKC-alpha. This picture was confirmed with further studies on cytosolic Ca2+. The results show that chromaffin cells exhibit an unusual pattern of down-regulation of PKC isoforms on prolonged exposure to PMA, and that there is a differential effect of exposure to PMA on the histamine and bradykinin responses, suggesting that different PLC-linked receptors in chromafin cells are differentially regulated by PKC isoforms.