Cholecystokinin-octapeptide affects the fluorescence signal of a single pancreatic acinar cell loaded with the acrylodan-labelled MARCKS peptide, a protein kinase C substrate

Isoforms of protein kinase C (PKC) have been shown to modulate some cellular responses such as pathological secretion and generation of inflammatory mediators during acute pancreatitis (AP). We propose that PKC also participates in premature zymogen activation within the pancreatic acinar cell, a key event in the initiation of AP. This hypothesis was examined in in vivo and cellular models of caerulein-induced AP using PKC activators and inhibitors. Phorbol ester, 12- O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA, 200 nM), a known activator of PKC, enhanced zymogen activation at both 0.1 nM and 100 nM caerulein, concentrations which mimic physiological and supraphysiological effects of the hormone cholecystokinin, respectively, in preparations of pancreatic acinar cells. Isoform-specific PKC inhibitors for PKC-δ and PKC-ε reduced supraphysiological caerulein-induced zymogen activation. Using a cell-free reconstitution system, we showed that inhibition of PKC-δ and -ε, reduced zymogen activation in both zymogen granule-enriched and microsomal fractions. In dispersed acinar cells, 100 nM caerulein stimulation caused PKC-δ and -ε isoform translocation to microsomal membranes using cell fractionation and immunoblot analysis. PKC translocation was confirmed with in vivo studies and immunofluorescence microscopy in pancreatic tissues from rats treated with or without 100 nM caerulein. PKC-ε redistributed from an apical to a supranuclear region following caerulein administration. The signal for PKC-ε overlapped with granule membrane protein, GRAMP-92, an endosomal/lysosomal marker, in a supranuclear region where zymogen activation takes place. These results indicate that PKC-δ and -ε isoforms translocate to specific acinar cell compartments and modulate zymogen activation.

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The involvement of protein kinase C and actin filaments in cortical granule exocytosis in the rat

Reproduction ◽

10.1530/rep.1.00424 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 129 (2) ◽

pp. 161-170 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

E Eliyahu ◽

A Tsaadon ◽

N Shtraizent ◽

R Shalgi

Keyword(s):

Plasma Membrane ◽

Protein Kinase C ◽

Protein Kinase ◽

Cortical Granule ◽

Fluorescence Signal ◽

Filamentous Actin ◽

Granule Exocytosis ◽

Kinase C ◽

Exact Function ◽

Cortical Granule Exocytosis

Mammalian sperm–egg fusion results in cortical granule exocytosis (CGE) and resumption of meiosis. Studies of various exocytotic cells suggest that filamentous actin (F-actin) blocks exocytosis by excluding secretory vesicles from the plasma membrane. However, the exact function of these microfilaments, in mammalian egg CGE, is still elusive. In the present study we investigated the role of actin in the process of CGE, and the possible interaction between actin and protein kinase C (PKC), by using coimmunoprecipitation, immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. We identified an interaction between actin and the PKC alpha isoenzyme in non-activated metaphase II (MII) eggs and in eggs activated by phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). F-actin was evenly distributed throughout the egg’s cytosol with a marked concentration at the cortex and at the plasma membrane. A decrease in the fluorescence signal of F-actin, which represents its depolymerization/reorganization, was detected upon fertilization and upon parthenogenetic activation. Exposing the eggs to drugs that cause either polymerization or depolymerization of actin (jasplakinolide (JAS) and cytochalasin D (CD) respectively) did not induce or prevent CGE. However, CD, but not JAS, followed by a low dose of TPA doubled the percentage of eggs undergoing complete CGE, as compared with TPA alone. We further demonstrated that myristoylated alanin-rich C kinase substrate (MARCKS), a protein known to cross-link F-actin in other cell types, is expressed in rat eggs and is colocalized with actin. In view of our results, we suggest that the cytoskeletal cortex is not a mere physical barrier that blocks CGE, but rather a dynamic network that can be maneuvered towards allowing CGE by activated actin-associated proteins and/or by activated PKC.

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