The isoform identity of activated protein kinase C (PKC) and its regulation were investigated in bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated human monocytes. Resolution of detergent-soluble lysates prepared from LPS-treated, peripheral blood monocytes using Mono Q anion-exchange chromatography revealed two principal peaks of myelin basic protein kinase activity. Immunoblotting and immunoprecipitation with isoform-specific anti-PKC antibodies showed that the major and latest eluting peak is accounted for by PKC-ζ. In addition to primary monocytes, activation of PKC-ζ in response to LPS was also observed in the human promonocytic cell lines, U937 and THP-1. Consistent with its identity as PKC-ζ, the kinase did not depend upon the presence of lipids, Ca2+, or diacylglycerol for activity. In addition, the kinase phosphorylates peptide ε and myelin basic protein with equal efficiency but phosphorylates Kemptide and protamine sulfate poorly. Translocation of PKC-ζ from the cytosolic to the particulate membrane fraction upon exposure of monocytes to LPS provided further evidence for activation of the kinase.
Preincubation of monocytes with the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) inhibitors, wortmannin or LY294002, abrogated LPS-induced activation of PKC-ζ. Furthermore, activation of PKC-ζ failed to occur in U937 cells transfected with a dominant negative mutant of the p85 subunit of PI 3-kinase. PKC-ζ activity was also observed to be enhanced in vitro by the addition of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5P3. These findings are consistent with a model in which PKC-ζ is activated downstream of PI 3-kinase in monocytes in response to LPS.
This work was supported by Medical Research Council of Canada Grant MA-8633 and Grant 95-1 from the British Columbia Health Research Foundation.The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
