Pharmacological studies on the role of protein kinase C in signal transduction of human basophils.

Recent investigations have demonstrated that activation of basophils involves the activation of protein kinase C (PKC). In the present study the effects of different nonselective and selective PKC inhibitors on IgE-mediated histamine release from human basophils were investigated. While potent but nonselective inhibitors such as staurosporine exerted a dose-dependent inhibition of Fc epsilon-receptor-mediated histamine release, staurosporine derivatives with high selectivity for PKC potentiated the IgE-mediated response. The results provide evidence that the histamine release-inhibiting activity of protein kinase inhibitors is inversely correlated with their specificity for PKC. This may confirm the hypothesis that PKC exerts a negative modulatory role during the process of stimulus secretion-coupling following receptor aggregation in basophils. Moreover, investigations with phorbol esters and diacylglycerol derivatives as potent PKC activators show that direct cellular PKC activation and antigen-stimulated mediator release are not closely correlated.