The Effects of Protein Kinase C Beta II Peptide Modulation on Superoxide Release in Rat Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes

Christina Lipscombe, Chinyere Ebo, Daphne Metellus, Jennifer Dang, Annam Humayun, Arjun Nair, Harsh Patel, Megan Michaels, Matthew Finnegan, Lucy Checchio, Faosat Muftau-Lediju, Faosat Martorana, Qian Chen, Robert J. Barsotti, Lindon H. Young

Research output: Contribution to conferencePresentation

Abstract

Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA; a diacylglycerol mimetic) is known to augment polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) superoxide (SO) release via protein kinase C (PKC) activation. However, the role of PKC beta II (βII) mediating this response is not known. It’s known that myristic acid (myr-) conjugation facilitates intracellular delivery of the cargo sequence, and that putative PKCβII activator and inhibitor peptides work by augmenting or attenuating PKCβII translocation to cell membrane substrates (e.g. NOX-2). Therefore, we hypothesize that myr- conjugated PKCβII peptide-activator (N-myr-SVEIWD; myr-PKCβ+) would increase PMA-induced rat PMN SO release, whereas, myr-PKCβII peptide-inhibitor (N-myr-SLNPEWNET; myr-PKCβ-) would attenuate this response compared to non-drug treated controls. Rat PMNs (5x106) were incubated for 15min at 370C in the presence/absence of myr-PKCβ+/- (20 μM) or SO dismutase (SOD;10μg/mL; n=8) as positive control. PMA (100nM) induced PMN SO release was measured spectrophotometrically at 550nm via reduction of ferricytochrome c for 390 sec. PMN SO release increased absorbance to 0.39±0.04 in non-drug treated controls (n=28), and 0.49±0.05 in myr-PKCβ+(n=16). This response was significantly increased from 180 seconds to 240 seconds (p<0.05). By contrast, myr-PKCβ- (0.26±0.03; n=14) significantly attenuated PMA-induced SO release compared to non-drug controls and myr-PKCβ+ (p<0.05). SOD-treated samples showed >90% reduction of PMA-induced SO release and was significantly different from all groups (p<0.01). Cell viability ranged between 94± to 98±2% in all groups as determined by 0.2% trypan blue exclusion. Preliminary results suggest that myr-PKCβ- significantly attenuates PMA-induced SO release, whereas myr-PKCβ+ significantly augments PMA-induced SO release, albeit transiently. Additional dose response and western blot experiments are planned with myr-PKCβ+/- in PMA-induced PMN SO release assays.

This research was supported by the Department of Bio-Medical Sciences and the Division of Research at PCOM and by Young Therapeutics, LLC.

Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - May 8 2019

Keywords

  • Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)
  • polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN)
  • superoxide (SO) release
  • protein kinase C (PKC) beta II (βII) (PKCβII)

Disciplines

  • Life Sciences
  • Medicine and Health Sciences

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