title: Identification of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms in teleostean, amphibian and avian pigment cells.
abstract: The beta isoform of protein kinase C (PKC) has been described as the main isoform involved in the stimulation of melanogenesis in mammalian skin melanocytes. Little is known about PKC isoforms in non-mammalian pigment cells. In neopterigian fish (holostei and teleostei), PKC is associated with pigment granule aggregation within the pigment cells (skin lightening), whereas in elasmobranchs and tetrapods, the activation of PKC leads to pigment granule dispersion (skin darkening). In an attempt to a better understanding of this distinct functional behavior upon PKC activation, we decided to investigate the PKC isoforms expressed in pigment cell lines of teleost fish, amphibians and birds, using RT-PCR followed by cloning and sequencing. Our results demonstrate the presence of messenger RNA (mRNA) for the following PKC isoforms: beta 1, lambda and iota in GEM-81 cells (Carassius auratus erythrophoroma), beta 1, beta 2 and zeta in Xenopus laevis (amphibian) melanophores; beta 1 and lambda in Gallus gallus (chicken) primary melanocytes. Beta 1 PKC seems to be conserved throughout phylogeny, but the diversity of the other isoforms in the different groups may account for the functional differences after PKC activation, which are observed between teleost and tetrapod pigment cells.
authors: Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Mauro César
authors: MC
authors: Isoldi
authors: Sergio Russo
authors: SR
authors: Matioli
authors: Ana Maria de Lauro
authors: AM
authors: Castrucci
authors: Leonardo Henrique Ribeiro Graciani
authors: LH
authors: de Lima
authors: Maria Aparecida
authors: MA
authors: Visconti
authors: Nancy Amaral
authors: NA
authors: Rebouças
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005399:Fishes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008544:Melanocytes / Q000201:enzymology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D011493:Protein Kinase C