Protein-kinase-C inhibitor calphostin C reduces B16 amelanotic melanoma cell adhesion to endothelium and lung colonization.

We recently reported that the Ca(2+)- and phospholipid-dependent protein kinase, protein kinase C (PKC), was involved in rat Walker carcinosarcoma cell adhesion to large-vessel endothelium. We extended our studies to explore the role of this kinase in the adhesion to small-vessel endothelium and lung colonization of murine B16 amelanotic melanoma (B16a). Subpopulations of B16a cells, which differ in lung-colonization potentials, were isolated by centrifugal elutriation from solid tumors. In this study, we demonstrate that cells from a high metastatic sub-population (HM340), when compared with cells from a low metastatic sub-population (LM180), exhibit elevated levels of total cellular as well as membrane-bound PKC. The increase in PKC in cells from the HM340 correlates positively to their increased ability to adhere to murine pulmonary-microvessel endothelial-cell monolayer, and to form pulmonary colonies in syngeneic mice. Calphostin C, a potent and selective PKC inhibitor, decreases in a dose-dependent manner the adhesion to endothelium and the lung colonization of cells from both the low and the high metastatic sub-populations with IC50 at sub-micromolar concentrations. In conclusion, our results suggest that PKC may be a key element in regulating tumor-cell metastasis and that PKC inhibitors may be anti-metastatic agents.