Overexpression of Protein Kinase C Isoform  but not δ in Human Interleukin-3–Dependent Cells Suppresses Apoptosis and Induces bcl-2 Expression

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Hematopoietic progenitor cells die by apoptosis after removal of the appropriate colony-stimulating factor (CSF). Recent pharmacologic data have implicated protein kinase C (PKC) in the suppression of apoptosis in interleukin-3 (IL-3) and granulocyte-macrophage (GM)-CSF–dependent human myeloid cells. Because IL-3 and GM-CSF induce increases in diacylglycerol without mobilizing intracellular Ca++, it seemed that one of the novel Ca++ independent isoforms of PKC was involved. We report here that overexpression of PKC in factor-dependent human TF-1 cells extends cell survival in the absence of cytokine. Overexpression of PKCδ does not have this effect. By 72 to 96 hours after cytokine withdrawal, the PKC transfectants remain distributed in all phases of the cell cycle, as shown by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis, while little intact cellular DNA is detectable in vector or PKCδ transfectants. PKC induces bcl-2 protein expression fivefold to sixfold over the levels in empty vector transfectants, whereas the levels in PKCδ transfectants are similar to those in vector controls.