ANTI SENSE DNA DOWN-REGULATES PROTEIN-KINASE C-EPSILON AND ENHANCES VASOPRESSIN-STIMULATED NA+ ABSORPTION IN RABBIT CORTICAL COLLECTING DUCT

Hormonal activation of protein kinase C (PKC) is a major signaling mechanism regulating salt and water transport in the distal nephron. We used antisense DNA to down-regulate a PKC isoform in the rabbit cortical collecting duct (CCD) and examined its role in mediating arginine vasopressin's (AVP) effect on salt transport in the CCD. Immunoblots demonstrate that PKC-epsilon (diacylglycerol sensitive) and PKC-zeta (diacylglycerol insensitive) are the major PKC isoforms in both freshly isolated and primary cultures of rabbit CCDs. Rabbit CCDs grown on semi-permeable supports, displayed a positive baseline short circuit current (I-sc), which was abolished by amiloride, demonstrating active Na+ absorption. Both AVP and 8-chloro-phenylthio-cAMP (8CPTcAMP) transiently increased I-sc, however within 40 min I-sc fell below baseline. Down-regulation of PKC-epsilon, as confirmed by immunoblot, was achieved either by treatment with a PKC-epsilon-specific antisense oligonucleotide or 48 h of 1 mu M PMA. In PKC-epsilon down-regulated cells, 8CPTcAMP produced a sustained, rather than transient, increase in I-sc. We suggest cAMP stimulates Na+ transport, but secondary activation of PKC-epsilon results in the sustained inhibition of Na+ transport seen in response to vasopressin in the CCD.