SJ Hirst, BL Webb, MA Giembycz, PJ Barnes and CH Twort
Division of Medicine UMDS, St. Thomas' Hospital, London, United Kingdom.

Severe chronic asthma is associated with structural changes in the airway wall including airway smooth muscle (ASM) hyperplasia. We have used cultured ASM cells isolated from rabbit trachealis as a model with which to investigate possible mechanisms of accelerated ASM growth to mitogenic stimuli. To elucidate the role that protein kinase C (PKC)- and protein tyrosine kinase (PTK)-dependent pathways play in the control of ASM mitogenesis, we have investigated the effect of reportedly selective inhibitors of PKC (3-[1-[3-(amidinothio)propyl]-3- indolyl]-4-(1-methyl-3-indolyl)-1H - pyrrole-2,5-dionemethanesulfonate [Ro31-8220] and 3-[1-(aminopropyl)indolyl]-4-(1-methyl-3-indolyl)-1H- pyrrole-2,5-dione acetate [Ro31-7549]) and PTK (alpha-cyano-3-ethoxy-4- hydroxy-5-phenylthiomethylcinnamamide [ST638]) on partially purified PKC, fetal calf serum (FCS)-stimulated protein phosphotyrosine content and on FCS-induced proliferation. Anion-exchange chromatography of lysed ASM cells resolved two peaks of Ca(2+)-activated, phospholipid- dependent PKC activity and one peak of Ca(2+)- and phospholipid- independent PKC activity. The selective PKC inhibitors, Ro31-8220 and Ro31-7549, abolished the main peak of PKC activity and the Ca(2+)- and phospholipid-independent peak that co-eluted with the main peak. The inhibition was dependent on the concentration of ATP in the reaction cocktail (IC50: 10 microM ATP: Ro31-8220 0.026 microM, Ro31-7549 0.073 microM; 100 microM ATP: Ro31-8220 0.065 microM, Ro31-7549 0.271 microM), consistent with these compounds inhibiting PKC at the ATP- binding site. Ro31-8220 was more potent (2- to 3-fold) than Ro31-7549. Concentrations of each inhibitor that produced maximal inhibition of the pooled kinase activity also abolished the second peak of Ca(2+)- dependent activity. The PTK inhibitor, ST638, had no effect on the kinase activity associated with any of the Ca(2+)-dependent or - independent peaks that eluted from the column. ST638, however, maximally inhibited FCS-stimulated PTK activity (IC50 25 microM). FCS- stimulated PTK was also inhibited by Ro31-8220 (IC50 0.15 microM), but only by 60%, revealing an Ro31-8220-insensitive component to the response. The ability of each protein kinase inhibitor to inhibit proliferation was also studied using four independent indices of ASM cell growth and division: 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) dye conversion, Coomassie blue protein determination, hemacytometer cell counts, and DNA synthesis. Ro31-8220 and Ro31-7549 produced concentration-dependent inhibition of FCS- stimulated proliferation of growth-arrested ASM cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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