Phorbol esters inhibit ammoniagenesis and gluconeogenesis in proximal tubular segments

To characterize the regulation of ammoniagenesis and gluconeogenesis in renal proximal tubule, ammonia and glucose productions were measured in suspensions of canine proximal tubular segments incubated with 10 mM L-glutamine. Productions were linear functions of time for 120 min and were decreased as extracellular pH was increased from 7.0 to 7.5 To ascertain whether activation of protein kinase c affects either process, we incubated segments with tumor-promoting phorbol esters, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), or phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate, or with the inactive phorbol ester 4 alpha-phorbol. Ammoniagenesis and gluconeogenesis were inhibited by incubation with 10(-6) M of the two former compounds but not the latter compound. Inhibition of ammoniagenesis and gluconeogenesis occurred after incubation with as little as 10(-9) M phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate. Phorbol ester-induced inhibition was observed under conditions such that extracellular [Na+] was greater than intracellular [Na+], but not when extracellular [Na+] equaled intracellular [Na+], and was not observed in the presence of amiloride. Our findings are consistent with a role for protein kinase c in the control of ammoniagenesis and gluconeogenesis in proximal tubule. Such control could be mediated via stimulation of Na+-H+ exchange.