Fumonisin B1-induced apoptosis is associated with delayed inhibition of protein kinase C, nuclear factor-kappaB and tumor necrosis factor alpha in LLC-PK1 cells.

Fumonisin B1 (FB1), the most potent of the fumonisin mycotoxins, is a carcinogen and causes a wide range of species-specific toxicoses. FB1 modulates the activity of protein kinase C (PKC), a family of phospholipid-dependent serine/threonine kinases that play important role in modulating a variety of biologic responses ranging from regulation of cell growth to cell death. Although it has been demonstrated that FB1 induces apoptosis in many cell lines, the precise mechanism of apoptosis is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the membrane localization of various PKC isoforms, PKC enzyme activity, and its downstream targets, namely nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), and caspase 3, in porcine renal epithelial (LLC-PK1) cells. FB1 repressed cytosol to membrane translocation of PKC-alpha, -delta, -epsilon, and -zeta isoforms over 24-72 h. The FB1-induced membrane PKC repression was corroborated by a concentration-dependent decrease in total PKC activity. Exposure of cells to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) for this duration also resulted in repressed PKC membrane localization and activity comparable to FB1. Exposure of cells to FB1 (10 microM) was associated with inhibition of cytosol to nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB and NF-kappaB-DNA binding at 72 h. The expression of TNFalpha was significantly inhibited at 24 and 48 h in response to 1 and 10 microM FB1. Increased caspase 3 activity was observed in LLC-PK1 cells exposed to > or =1 microM FB1 at 48 h. PMA also increased the caspase 3 activity at 24 and 48 h. Results suggest that FB1-induced apoptosis involves the activation of caspase 3, which is associated with the repression of PKC and possibly its down-stream effectors, NF-kappaB and TNFalpha.