DIFFERENT MECHANISMS OF RENAL NA-K-ATPASE REGULATION BY PROTEIN-KINASES IN PROXIMAL AND DISTAL NEPHRON

We recently reported a novel intracellular mechanism of Na-K-adenosinetriphosphatase (Na-K-ATPase) regulation in the cortical collecting duct (CCD) by agents that increase cell adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP), which involves stimulation of protein kinase A (PKA) and phospholipase A2 (PLA2). We now determined whether this mechanism also operates in other nephron segments. In the medullary thick ascending limb (MTAL) dopamine, the DA1 agonist fenoldopam, forskolin, or dibutyryl-cAMP inhibited Na-K-ATPase activity, similar to results in CCD. In both segments this effect was blocked by 20-residue inhibitory peptide (IP20)), a peptide inhibitor of PKA, but not by staurosporine, a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor. PKC activators phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate, and 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol had no effect on Na-K pump activity in either CCD or MTAL. In contrast, all three PKC activators inhibited pump activity in the proximal convoluted tubule (PCT), an effect reproduced only by dopamine or by parathyroid hormone [PTH-(1-34)]. In PCT the pump inhibition by dopamine or PTH-(1-34) was abolished by staurosporine but not by IP20. The PLA2 inhibitor mepacrine prevented the effect of all agents, and arachidonic acid produced a dose-dependent pump inhibition in each of the three segments studied. We conclude that intracellular mechanisms of Na-K-ATPase regulation differ along the nephron, as they involve activation of PKA in CCD and MTAL and of PKC in PCT. These two pathways probably share a common mechanism in stimulating PLA2, arachidonic acid release, and production of eicosanoids in both the proximal and distal nephron.