Down-regulation of pinealocyte protein kinase C: effect on alpha 1-adrenergic potentiation of beta-adrenoceptor stimulation of cyclic AMP accumulation and induction of serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity.
Treatment of rat pinealocytes with 4 beta-phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate down-regulated protein kinase C (PKC) activity. Loss of activity was concentration-dependent (50% loss at 8 x 10(-7) M after 18 h of treatment) and time-dependent (50% loss after 2 h with 3 x 10(-6) M). Phenylephrine, an alpha 1-adrenergic agonist, and phorbol esters unable to activate PKC did not down-regulate the enzyme. alpha 1-Adrenergic amplification of beta-adrenergic stimulation of cyclic AMP accumulation, a response previously shown to be mediated by PKC activation, was reduced by only 50% in cells in which PKC activity was down-regulated by approximately 95%. These data suggest that there is not a simple proportional relationship between the degree of activation of pinealocyte PKC and the alpha 1-adrenergic amplification of beta-adrenergic cyclic AMP synthesis. In down-regulated cells, alpha 1-adrenergic amplification of beta-adrenergic induction of serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity, a key cyclic AMP-responsive enzyme involved in the nocturnal synthesis of the pineal hormone melatonin, was unchanged. Thus, even though alpha 1-adrenergic amplification of cyclic AMP synthesis is impaired, sufficient cyclic AMP is generated to allow a full induction of serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity. This finding raises the important question of whether the alpha 1-adrenergic amplification mechanism has a physiological role in regulating melatonin synthesis in vivo.
Biomedical Sciences Division, King's College London, England.
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Sugden
D000316:Adrenergic alpha-Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism*; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000378:metabolism; D015536:Down-Regulation; D004790:Enzyme Induction / Q000187:drug effects; D007545:Isoproterenol / Q000494:pharmacology; D010656:Phenylephrine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015240:Phorbol 12,13-Dibutyrate / Q000494:pharmacology; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D000316:Adrenergic alpha-Agonists; D010656:Phenylephrine; D015240:Phorbol 12,13-Dibutyrate; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase; D011493:Protein Kinase C; D006152:Cyclic GMP; D007545:Isoproterenol