Antagonistic effects of calcium ionophores and phorbol esters on T cell receptor mRNA levels in human thymocytes.

Levels of mRNA of the T cell antigen receptors (TcR) in human thymocytes are differentially regulated in response to distinct intracellular signals. Activation of protein kinase C by the phorbol ester, tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate or other phorbol esters increases the levels of the alpha and beta T cell receptor (TcR-alpha, TcR-beta) mRNA, whereas an increase in cytosolic free Ca2+, induced by ionomycin or other Ca2+ ionophores, results in a decrease of alpha and beta TcR mRNA levels. In contrast, ionomycin increases the expression TcR-gamma mRNA whereas tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate prevents this induction. Our results suggest the existence of two opposing intracellular pathways that control expression of TcR-alpha and TcR-beta mRNA levels, on the one hand and TcR-gamma mRNA, on the other. These results provide the first evidence for antagonistic actions of protein kinase C and cytosolic-free Ca2+ on gene expression.