PKC-ε regulation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase: a potential role in phenylephrine-induced cardiocyte growth

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Hypertrophic growth of cardiac muscle is dependent on activation of the PKC-ε isoform. To define the effectors of PKC-ε involved in growth regulation, recombinant adenoviruses were used to overexpress either wild-type PKC-ε (PKC-ε/WT) or dominant negative PKC-ε (PKC-ε/DN) in neonatal rat cardiocytes. PKC-ε/DN inhibited acute activation of PKC-ε produced in response to phorbol ester and reduced ERK1/2 activity as measured by the phosphorylation of p42 and p44 isoforms. The inhibitory effects were specific to PKC-ε because PKC-ε/DN did not prevent translocation of either PKC-α or PKC-δ. Overexpression of PKC-ε/DN blunted the acute increase in ERK1/2 phorphorylation induced by the α1-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine (PE ). Inhibition of PKC-δ with rottlerin potentiated the effects of PE on ERK1/2 phosphorylation. PKC-ε/DN adenovirus also blocked cardiocyte growth as measured after 48 h of PE treatment, although the multiplicity of infection was lower than that required to block acute ERK1/2 activation. PE activated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase as measured by its phosphorylation, but the response was not blocked by PKC inhibitors or by overexpression of PKC-ε/DN. Taken together, these studies show that the hypertrophic agonist PE regulates ERK1/2 activity in cardiocytes by a pathway dependent on PKC-ε and that PE-induced growth is mediated by PKC-ε.

This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit: