Protein kinase C-independent inhibition of arterial smooth muscle K+ channels by a diacylglycerol analogue

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Analogues of the endogenous diacylglycerols have been used extensively as pharmacological activators of protein kinase C (PKC). Several reports show that some of these compounds have additional effects that are independent of PKC activation, including direct block of K+ and Ca2+ channels. We investigated whether dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol (DiC8), a commonly used diacylglycerol analogue, blocks K+ currents of rat mesenteric arterial smooth muscle in a PKC-independent manner. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Conventional whole-cell and inside-out patch clamp was used to measure the inhibition of K+ currents of rat isolated mesenteric smooth muscle cells by DiC8 in the absence and presence of PKC inhibitor peptide. KEY RESULTS Mesenteric artery smooth muscle K-v currents inactivated very slowly with a time constant of about 2 s following pulses from -65 to +40 mV. Application of 1 mu M DiC8 produced an approximate 40-fold increase in the apparent rate of inactivation. Pretreatment of the cells with PKC inhibitor peptide had a minimal effect on the action of DiC8, and substantial inactivation still occurred, indicating that this effect was mainly independent of PKC. We also found that DiC8 blocked BK and K-ATP currents, and again a significant proportion of these blocks occurred independently of PKC activation. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS These results show that DiC8 has a direct effect on arterial smooth muscle K+ channels, and this precludes its use as a PKC activator when investigating PKC-mediated effects on vascular K+ channels.