Expression of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-subspecies of protein kinase C in the motor neurons in the embryonic and postnatal rat spinal cord

Specific protein kinase C isoforms are required for rod photoreceptor differentiation

The protein kinase C (PKC) family of enzymes regulates cell physiology through phosphorylation of serine and threonine residues of many proteins in most cell types. Here we identify PKC-β1 and PKC-γ as isoforms that are essential for rod photoreceptor differentiation in mouse retinas. Using ex vivo retinal explants, we found that phorbol ester 12-myristate 13-acetate and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) induced rod differentiation, as defined by opsin or Crx expression, in a PKC-dependent manner days ahead of rod development in untreated explants. PKC-β1 and PKC-γ were colocalized with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)- and STAT3-positive progenitors through the later differentiation period. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of either isoform resulted in a partial reduction in the appearance of rods, whereas removing both isoforms resulted in their complete absence. Furthermore, a significant decline of STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation was observed by activation of PKC, while inhibition of PKC resulted in an increase of phosphorylated STAT3 along with a delayed cell cycle exit of progenitors with prolonged PCNA expression. In adult retinas, IGF1 activates PI-3 kinase (PI3K), but in neonatal retinas its action is identical to the action of an PI3K inhibitor. These data unveil a novel signaling cascade that coordinates and regulates rod differentiation through specific PKC isoforms in mammals.

Protein kinase C regulates neurite outgrowth in spinal cord neurons

OBJECTIVE

The functional roles of protein kinase C (PKC) in the neurite outgrowth and nerve regeneration remain controversial. The present study was aimed to investigate the role of PKC in neurite outgrowth, by studying their regulatory effects on neurite elongation in spinal cord neurons in vitro.

METHODS

The anterior-horn neurons of spinal cord from embryonic day 14 (E14) Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were dissociated, purified and cultured in the serum-containing medium. The ratio of membrane-PKC (mPKC) activity to cytoplasm-PKC (cPKC) activity (m/c-PKC) was studied at different time points during culture.

RESULTS

Between 3-11 d of culture, the change of m/c-PKC activity ratio and PKC-betaII expression in the neurite were both significantly correlated with neurite outgrowth (r=0.95, P< 0.01; r=0.73, P< 0.01, respectively). Moreover, PMA, an activator of PKC, induced a dramatic elevation in the m/c-PKC activity ratio, accompanied with the increase in neurite length (r=0.99, P< 0.01). In contrast, GF 109203X, an inhibitor of PKC, significantly inhibited neurite elongation, which could not be reversed by PMA.

CONCLUSION

PKC activity may be important in regulating neurite outgrowth in spinal cord neurons, and betaII isoform of PKC probably plays a major role in this process.

Protein kinase Cgamma mediates ethanol withdrawal hyper-responsiveness of NMDA receptor currents in spinal cord motor neurons

The present studies were designed to test the hypothesis that neuronal-specific protein kinase Cgamma (PKCgamma) plays a critical role in acute ethanol withdrawal hyper-responsiveness in spinal cord. Patch-clamp studies were carried out in motor neurons in neonatal rat spinal cord slices. Postsynaptic currents were evoked by brief pulses of 2 mM N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) in the presence of bicuculline methiodide 10 microM; strychnine 5 microM and tetrodotoxin 0.5 microM. Both ethanol depression and withdrawal hyper-responsiveness of NMDA-evoked currents are dependent on increases in intracellular Ca(2+). Blocking intracellular increase in Ca(2+) by 30 mM 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)-ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (BAPTA) not only decreased the ethanol-induced depression of NMDA-evoked currents (33+/-5% in control vs 20+/-3% in BAPTA, P<0.05) but also eliminated acute ethanol withdrawal hyper-responsiveness. Immunohistochemistry studies revealed that neonatal spinal cord motor neurons contain an abundance of nuclear PKCgamma. Exposure to ethanol (100 mM) induced PKCgamma translocation from the nucleus to cytoplasm in motor neurons. Pretreatment with the gamma-isozyme-specific peptide PKC inhibitor, gammaV5-3, blocked ethanol-induced translocation and also blocked withdrawal hyper-responsiveness. The results show that PKCgamma mediates ethanol withdrawal hyper-responsiveness in spinal motor neurons; the results may be relevant to some symptoms of ethanol withdrawal in vivo.

A role for protein kinase intracellular messengers in substance P- and nociceptor afferent-mediated excitation and expression of the transcription factor Fos in rat dorsal horn neurons in vitro

Expression of the inducible transcription factor Fos in the spinal dorsal horn in vivo is associated with nociceptive afferent activation, but the underlying stimulation-transcription pathway is less clear. This in vitro spinal cord study concerns the role of protein kinase A and C second messengers in substance P receptor (NK1R)-mediated or nociceptive afferent-evoked neuronal excitation and Fos expression. Nociceptive afferent (dorsal root) stimulation of isolated spinal cords (10-14 day old rats) evoked a 'prolonged' excitatory polysynaptic potential (DR-EPSP) that was attenuated (P < 0.05) by: the protein kinase A inhibitor, Rp-cAMP; the protein kinase C inhibitor, bisindolymaleimide I; and the selective NK1R antagonist, GR82334. Neuronal excitations induced by the NK1R agonist [Sar9,Met(O2)11]-SP were attenuated by Rp-cAMP, bisindolymaleimide I and GR82334. Effects of the protein kinase A and C inhibitors on the DR-EPSP or the [Sar9,Met(O2)11]-SP-induced depolarization were nonadditive, suggesting convergence of these intracellular signalling pathways onto a common final target. Nociceptor afferent-induced Fos, detected by immunohistochemistry in superficial and deep dorsal horn laminae, was attenuated by Rp-cAMP, bisindolymaleimide I and GR82334. In spinal cords pretreated with TTX to eliminate indirect neuronal activation, [Sar9,Met(O2)11]-SP (1-20 microM) elicited a dose-related expression of Fos that was reduced by Rp-cAMP, bisindolymaleimide I and GR82334. The effects of these inhibitors were most pronounced in the deep laminae. These data support a causal relationship between protein kinase A- or C-dependent signal transduction, nociceptive afferent- or NK1R-induced neuronal excitation and Fos expression in dorsal horn. Implications for short- versus long-term modulation of nociceptive circuitry are discussed.

Effect of protein kinase C activation on the glycine evoked Cl− current in spinal cord neurons

We investigated whether the effect of phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) was altered by a kinase inhibitor and by down-regulation of protein kinase C (PKC) in order to determine if glycine receptors in mouse spinal neurons, unlike those in hippocampal and trigeminal neurons, can be inhibited by PKC. To examine the above, electrophysiological and immunofluorescence studies were carried out in mouse spinal neurons kept in culture for up to 3 weeks. The inhibition of the glycine activated current by PMA (1 microM) increased from 12+/-3% during week 1 to 27+/-6% during week 3. The effect of PMA was completely blocked by the PKC selective inhibitor RO 31-8220 (1 microM). After culturing the cells with 1 microM PMA for 24 h, the inhibitory effect of acute application of PMA disappeared altogether, suggesting that the effect of PMA was via PKC. Immunofluorescence studies showed that a short stimulation with PMA translocated the enzyme to the periphery whereas longer term stimulation (24 h) down regulated the PKC signal. These results indicate that activation of PKC by PMA inhibits the glycine receptor in cultured spinal neurons and that its sensitivity changes during neuronal development.

Developmental expression of alpha-, beta- and gamma-subspecies of protein kinase C in the dorsal corticospinal tract in the rat spinal cord

Developmental expression of alpha-, beta- and gamma-subspecies of protein kinase C in the dorsal corticospinal tract was immunohistochemically investigated at the cervical level of the postnatal rat spinal cord. On postnatal day 0, immunoreactivity for these subspecies was uniformly distributed throughout the posterior funiculus. On postnatal day 7, immunoreactivity for this enzyme in the posterior funiculus began to decline. On postnatal days 14 and 21, the immunoreactivity in the posterior funiculus became weak, while the dorsal corticospinal tract forming in the most ventral portion of the posterior funiculus exhibited strong immunoreactivity for these three subspecies of protein kinase C. Thereafter, immunoreactivity in the corticospinal tract rapidly declined, and on postnatal days 28 and 35, weak immunoreaction was demonstrated as very fine granular deposits in the tract. Expression of this enzyme in the dorsal corticospinal tract at these stages resembled that in the adult rat. Electron microscopically, growth cones and nascent axonal shafts were first noted on postnatal day 2 in the most ventral portion of the posterior funiculus, and thereafter, the axonal shaft gradually thickened and on postnatal day 14 some axons began to be myelinated. The growth cones and thin axonal shafts randomly exhibited weak immunoreactivity in the axoplasm. The thicker unmyelinated axonal shafts showed distinct immunoreactivity uniformly throughout the axoplasm and along the axolemma as granular deposits. In these developing axons, intensity and distribution of immunoreactivity for all three subspecies were principally similar. In the mature myelinated axons, the intensity and distribution of immunoreactivity for each subspecies of protein kinase C were quite different, i.e. immunoreactivity for alpha-subspecies was randomly distributed on some cytoskeletal elements, and that for beta-subspecies was uniformly detected on most of the cytoskeletal elements. In contrast, immunoreactivity for gamma-subspecies was distributed mainly on the endoplasmic reticulum. These findings suggest that in growing corticospinal axons protein kinase C might be involved in several important aspects of axonal development, and that in mature axons this enzyme might participate in different aspects of axonal function.