ET-1 receptors in C-6 cells: homologous down-regulation and modulation by protein kinase C.

Endothelin (ET-1) receptors were studied in the C-6 glia cell line. ET-1 binds to C-6 cells in a temperature- and time-dependent manner, with an apparent Kd of 1.16 +/- 0.07 10(-10) M and a Bmax of 96,500 +/- 6000 sites/cell (mean +/- SEM, n = 27). Stimulation of protein kinase C (PKC) with the diacylglycerol (DAG) analog phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) resulted in a decrease in the number of receptors in a dose-dependent manner. Inhibition of PKC with H-7 eliminated the effect of PMA on the reduction of binding sites. Treatment with exogenous 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (OAG) and 1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol (DOG), release of endogenous DAG with phospholipase C, and inhibition of the metabolism of DAG with the diacylglycerol kinase inhibitor R 59022 also resulted in a decrease in the number of receptors. The effect of these agents was inhibited by H-7. ET-1-mediated down-regulation of receptors was also demonstrated, but the down-regulation was not affected by H-7 or by depletion of cellular PKC with chronic, high dose of PMA. Internalization constants of ET-1-receptor complex was also measured according to the model of Wiley and Cunningham (Cell 25 (1981) 433). PMA- and ET-1-mediated down-regulation of receptors was associated with an increase in the endocytosis constant for the hormone-receptor complex and a decrease in the rate of insertion of receptor into the plasma membrane. PMA, but not ET-1, increased the rate of endocytosis of unoccupied receptors. Radioiodinated ET-1 was crosslinked to the receptor after binding, extracted and subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A band at 66 kDa was obtained. These studies show that ET-1 and PKC activation produce down-regulation of ET-1 membrane receptors and that ET-1-mediated down-regulation probably does not involve the activation of PKC.