The role of protein kinase C alpha translocation in radiation-induced bystander effect

Ionizing radiation is a well known human carcinogen. Evidence accumulated over the past decade suggested that extranuclear/extracellular targets and events may also play a critical role in modulating biological responses to ionizing radiation. However, the underlying mechanism(s) of radiation-induced bystander effect is still unclear. In the current study, AL cells were irradiated with alpha particles and responses of bystander cells were investigated. We found out that in bystander AL cells, protein kinase C alpha (PKCα) translocated from cytosol to membrane fraction. Pre-treatment of cells with PKC translocation inhibitor chelerythrine chloride suppressed the induced extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) activity and the increased cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) expression as well as the mutagenic effect in bystander cells. Furthermore, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) was elevated in directly irradiated but not bystander cells; while TNFα receptor 1 (TNFR1) increased in the membrane fraction of bystander cells. Further analysis revealed that PKC activation caused accelerated internalization and recycling of TNFR1. Our data suggested that PKCα translocation may occur as an early event in radiation-induced bystander responses and mediate TNFα-induced signaling pathways that lead to the activation of ERK and up-regulation of COX-2.