Protein kinase C phosphorylates the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor type 2 and decreases the mobilization of Ca2+in pancreatoma AR4-2J cells.

In non-excitable cells, the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor channel, which plays a major (IP(3)R) is an intracellular Ca(2+) role in Ca(2+) signalling. Three isoforms of IP(3)R have been identified (IP(3)R-1, IP(3)R-2 and IP(3)R-3) and most cell types express different proportions of each isoform. The differences between the pharmacological and functional properties of the various isoforms of IP(3)R are poorly understood. AR4-2J cells, which express almost exclusively (~86%) the IP(3)R-2, represent an interesting model to study this particular isoform. Here, we investigated a regulatory mechanism by which protein kinase C (PKC) influences IP(3)R-2-mediated Ca(2+) release. Using an immunoprecipitation approach, we confirmed that AR4-2J cells express almost exclusively the IP(3)R-2 isoform. Using an in vitro phosphorylation assay, we showed that the immunopurified IP(3)R-2 was efficiently phosphorylated by exogenous PKC. In intact AR4-2J cells metabolically labelled with (32)Pi, we showed that phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) and Ca(2+) mobilizing agonists cause the phosphorylation of IP(3)R-2. In saponin-permeabilized AR4-2J cells, IP(3)-induced Ca(2+) release was reduced after a pre-treatment with PMA or with exogenous PKC. PMA also reduced the Ca(2+) response of intact AR4-2J cells stimulated with carbachol and epidermal growth factor, two agonists that use different receptor types to activate phospholipase C. These results demonstrate that PKC decreases the Ca(2+)mobilizing activity of IP(3)R-2 and thus exerts a negative feedback on the agonists-induced Ca(2+) response of AR4-2J cells.