Role of Calcium and PKC in Salivary Mucous Cell Exocrine Secretion

Abstract

Fluid and exocrine secretion of mucins by salivary mucous glands is regulated predominantly by parasympathetic activation of muscarinic receptors. A direct role for subsequent putative signaling steps, phospholipase C (PLC), increased intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i), and isoforms of protein kinase C (PKC) in mediating muscarinic exocrine secretion has not been elucidated, and these are potential therapeutic targets to enhance mucin secretion in hyposalivary patients. We found that muscarinic-induced mucin secretion by rat sublingual tubulo-acini was dependent upon PLC activation and the subsequent increase in [Ca2+]i, and further identified a transient PKC-independent component of secretion dependent upon Ca2+release from intracellular stores, whereas sustained secretion required entry of extracellular Ca2+. Interactions among carbachol, PKC inhibitors, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, and thapsigargin to modulate [Ca2+]iimplicated conventional PKC isoforms in mediating sustained secretion. With increasing times during carbachol perfusion of glands, in situ, PKC-α redistributed across glandular membrane compartments and underwent a rapid and persistent accumulation near the luminal borders of mucous cells. PKC-β1 displayed transient localization near luminal borders, whereas the novel PKCs, PKC-δ or PKC-ϵ, displayed little or no redistribution in mucous cells. Collective results implicate synergistic interactions between diacylglycerol (DAG) and increasing [Ca2+]ilevels to activate cPKCs in mediating sustained muscarinic-induced secretion.