Activation of protein kinase C inhibits potassium currents in cultured endothelial cells

The effect of protein kinase C on potassium channels in cultured endothelial cells was investigated by using whole-cell patch-clamp techniques. Activation of protein kinase C by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu), but not phorbol 12-monomyristate (PMM), an inactive analogue of phorbol esters, depressed an outward calcium-dependent potassium current. The inhibitory actions of PMA and PDBu could be reversed by the kinase inhibitor H-7. Cyclopiazonic acid, an inhibitor of the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump, and LP-805, a novel vasodilator which also releases endothelium-derived relaxing factors, activated the outward calcium-dependent potassium conductance. PMA and PDBu, but not PMM, reduced the outward conductance induced by cyclopiazonic acid and LP-805. These effects of PMA and PDBu on potassium currents may be mediated either by phosphorylation of ion channels, or by decreasing intracellular calcium concentration.