Phosphorylation substrates for protein kinase C in intact pituitary cells: characterization of a receptor-mediated event using novel gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs

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Abstract
The involvement of protein kinase C in the signal transduction of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) action was investigated with a GnRH superagonist, partial agonists, and antagonists in intact rat pituitary cells. Exposure of 32P-labeled cells to GnRH or to the superagonist [D-Na(2)6]GnRH (200 times GnRH potency in vivo) induced the enhanced phosphorylation of 42-, 34-, 11-, and 10-kDa proteins and the dephosphorylation of a 15-kDa protein as assessed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis/autoradiography. This effect was blocked in a dose-dependent manner by potent GnRH antagonists. At its maximally effective concentration of 10-9 M, [D-Nal(2)6]GnRH induced an up to 2 times more pronounced phosphorylation of endogenous substrates than GnRH at 10-7 M. This was in accord with its ability to cause an 8-fold increase in the translocation of protein kinase C to the particulate fraction vs. 3.4-fold for GnRH. This effect correlated with potency for a series of GnRH agonists ([D-Nal(2)6]GnRH > GnRH > [Gly2]LH-RH) and was prevented by GnRH antagonists, as assessed by a novel phorbol ester receptor binding assay and by a standard kinase assay. Downregulation of protein kinase C by prolonged incubation of the pituitary cells with high concentrations of active phorbol esters abolished protein kinase C activity and also prevented the phosphorylation induced by GnRH, or [D-Nal(2)6]GnRH. The same effect was obtained by preincubating the cells with the protein kinase C inhibitor H-7. In this study we identify for the first time physiological substrates for protein kinase C in intact pituitary cells. We demonstrate a close quantitative correlation between the extent of translocation of protein kinase C, levels of phosphorylation of specific substrates in the intact cells, and the biological activity of the GnRH analogues with varying affinity for the GnRH receptor. These data strengthen the contention that the physiological effects of GnRH are primarily mediated via the phosphatidylinositol/Ca2+ signal transfer system and represent a first step toward defining the physiological substrates of protein kinase C and their role in the cascade of events that starts upon binding of GnRH to its receptor.