Subtype-specific translocation of diacylglycerol kinase alpha and gamma and its correlation with protein kinase C.

We examined the translocation of diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) alpha and gamma fused with green fluorescent protein in living Chinese hamster ovary K1 cells (CHO-K1) and investigated temporal and spatial correlations between DGK and protein kinase C (PKC) when both kinases are overexpressed. DGKalpha and gamma were present throughout the cytoplasm of CHO-K1 cells. Tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) induced irreversible translocation of DGKgamma, but not DGKalpha, from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane. The (TPA)-induced translocation of DGKgamma was inhibited by the mutation of C1A but not C1B domain of DGKgamma and was not inhibited by staurosporine. Arachidonic acid induced reversible translocation of DGKgamma from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane, whereas DGKalpha showed irreversible translocation to the plasma membrane and the Golgi network. Purinergic stimulation induced reversible translocation of both DGKgamma and alpha to the plasma membrane. The timing of the ATP-induced translocation of DGKgamma roughly coincided with that of PKCgamma re-translocation from the membrane to the cytoplasm. Furthermore, re-translocation of PKCgamma was obviously hastened by co-expression with DGKgamma and was blocked by an inhibitor of DGK (R59022). These results indicate that DGK shows subtype-specific translocation depending on extracellular signals and suggest that PKC and DGK are orchestrated temporally and spatially in the signal transduction.