Selective down-regulation of protein kinase c-epsilon by carcinogens does not prevent stimulation of phospholipase D by phorbol ester and platelet-derived growth factor.

It is well established that activators of protein kinase C (PKC) also enhance the activity of phospholipase D (PLD), and that this regulatory mechanism is altered in transformed cells. Here we used the C3H/10T1/2 mouse embryo fibroblast line, a cellular model for the study of carcinogenesis, to examine possible effects of carcinogens on the PKC isoenzyme pattern and on the regulation of PLD by the PKC activators phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). Treatment of these fibroblasts with 0.5 microgram/ml 7,12-dimethyl-benz[a]anthracene or benzo[a]pyrene for 24 h greatly decreased (> 80%) the amount of immunoreactive PKC-epsilon. Of the remaining three isoenzymes identified, carcinogens alone had no effect on the cellular status of PKC-alpha and PKC-delta, although they appeared to promote slightly PMA-induced membrane translocation of the cytosolic forms of these isoenzymes in exponentially growing cells. Carcinogens and/or PMA had no effects on the cellular content or distribution of PKC-zeta. Chronic (24 h) treatments with carcinogens resulted in increased or decreased release of [14C]ethanolamine or [14C]choline from the appropriate prelabelled phospholipids, respectively. However, carcinogens failed to block the stimulatory effects of PMA and PDGF on the hydrolysis of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine or on the synthesis of phosphatidylethanol mediated by PLD. These data indicate that in fibroblasts PKC-epsilon is not a major regulator of PLD activity.