Abstract
Potassium ions play an important role in the regulation of steroidogenesis, water-salt balance, apoptosis, proliferation. However, the nuclear phase of the agonist signaling in adrenocorticocytes remains poorly understood. The aim of the work was to elucidate the effect of potassium on the level of nuclear transcription factor c-Fos in human tumor adrenocortical tissue (aldosteroma). Methods. Expression of c-Fos transcription factor in aldosteromas was detected using Western-blot analysis. Results. The increase of c-Fos level in human aldosteroma cells at potassium physiological concentration of 3.5 mmol/l compared to medium without potassium was observed. The level of cFos did not change after 8.5 mmol/l K+ administration. The possible participation of transcription factor c-Fos in steroidogenic effects of K+ is being discussed. Conclusions. The results of study suggest that K+ can have a direct effect on the expression level of nuclear transcription factor c-Fos in tissues from human aldosteromas.
Highlights
Potassium ions play an important role in the regulation of steroidogenesis, water-salt balance, apoptosis, proliferation
K+ stimulates an increase in cAMP formation and cAMP-dependent protein kinase A [4], other secondary messengers including protein kinase C (PKC) [5, 6], Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase [7] are activated by potassium
In addition it was suggested that this cascade kinases participate in the gluco- and mineralocorticoids biosynthesis regulation [14, 15]. c-Fos is one of the main transcription factor activated by mitogenactivated protein kinase (MAPK)
Summary
Potassium ions play an important role in the regulation of steroidogenesis, water-salt balance, apoptosis, proliferation. These serine/threonine kinases activate downstream transcription factors, which in turn induce expression of target genes. The transcription factors c-Jun, c-Fos, NF-kB were stimulated by K+ in different types of cells [8, 9, 10]. Effects of K+ differ in normal and tumor adrenocortical tissues.
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