Characterization of defective phorbol ester responses in a low secreting rat basophilic leukemia (RBL-2H3) cell variant

The role of protein kinase C (PKC) in the signaling mechanism that stimulates the release of mediators from rat mast cells, for which the RBL-2H3 cell line is a model, is at present unresolved. Current evidence suggests that PKC activation alone is an insufficient stimulus, although it can modulate mast cell exocytosis induced by other agents. In this article we characterize a variant of the RBL-2H3 cell line that has a reduced capacity for mediator secretion in response to an IgE-mediated antigen-induced stimulation. The outcome of our study suggests that at least two PKC isotypes are active in RBL-2H3 cells, and affect the positive and negative modulation of the secretory response.