Roles of protein kinase C delta in the accumulation of P53 and the induction of apoptosis in H2O2-treated bovine endothelial cells.

To clarify the signaling pathways of oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC), we treated cells with 1 mM H2O2 and investigated the roles of protein kinase C delta (PKC delta) and Ca2+ in the accumulation of p53 associated with apoptosis. The treatment of cells with H2O2 caused the accumulation of p53, which was inhibited by rottlerin (a PKC delta inhibitor) but not by BAPTA-AM (an intracellular Ca2+ chelator). PKC delta itself was activated through the phosphorylation at tyrosine residues. H2O2 induced the release of cytochrome c and the activation of caspases 3 and 9, and these apoptotic signals were inhibited by rottlerin and BAPTA-AM. These results suggest that PKC delta contributes to the accumulation of p53 and that Ca2+ plays a role in downstream signals of p53 leading to apoptosis in H2O2-treated BAEC.