Natural (alpha-tocopherol) and synthetic (phenosan potassium salt) antioxidants regulate the protein kinase C activity in a broad concentration range (10(-4)-10(-20) M).

The effects of natural lipid-soluble antioxidant, alpha-tocopherol (alpha-TP), and the synthetic water-soluble antioxidant, phenosan potassium salt (Ph-K), in a broad range of concentrations down to ultralow doses (10(-4)-10(-20) M) on the activity of protein kinase C (PKC) have been studied. It was shown that alpha-TP is a potent inhibitor of the rabbit heart enzyme: the maximum extent of inhibition is 80%. The effects of alpha-TP on the main kinetic parameters of the PKC activity differ at the alpha-TP physiological (10(-4) M) and ultralow (10(-14) M) concentrations: at 10(-14) M, alpha-TP acts as an allosteric inhibitor with Hill's coefficient about 2 and doubles the PKC affinity to the substrate (histone H-1). It was concluded that alpha-TP is more efficient inhibitor at ultralow concentration. Ph-K added to normal (A7r5 rat vascular smooth muscle cells, VSMC) and tumor cells (Saos-2 human osteosarcoma) growing in a culture has been found to be a PKC superactivator. The maximum activation is 400-500%, which is more than two times as high as the effect of the best activator of this enzyme, phorbol ester (TPA). It was demonstrated that irrespective of the effector action (activation or inhibition), the dose-effect curves are of the bimodal type with two maxima at the high (or physiological) (10(-4)-10(-7) M) and ultralow (10(-14)-10(-19) M) concentrations of the antioxidants and the so-called "silence zones" between them, in which the effect of antioxidants is significantly reduced or absent (tumor cells). For the first time, these bimodal curves were observed at the enzyme level. The results obtained are discussed considering various hypotheses of the effect of ultralow doses of biologically active compounds and the PKC activity regulation in normal and tumor cells by the antioxidants.