Herbimycin A and geldanamycin inhibit okadaic acid-induced apoptosis and p38 activation in NRK-52E renal epithelial cells.

It is important to understand the mechanisms by which phosphorylation-dependent events play a role in regulation of apoptosis in toxicant-metabolizing organs such as the kidney. Our previous work demonstrated that the toxicant and phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid induces apoptosis of renal epithelial cells via a mechanism that appears to involve the modulation of c-raf-1, p38 kinase, and extracellular regulatory kinase (ERK) cascades. Using the benzoquinone ansamycins and tyrosine kinase inhibitors geldanamycin and herbimycin A, we examined the contribution of tyrosine phosphorylation and c-raf-1 activities to okadaic acid-induced apoptosis. In this report we show that both geldanamycin and herbimycin A protected NRK-52E cells from okadaic acid-induced apoptosis, abrogated the overall okadaic acid-induced kinase activation, and specifically inhibited activation of p38 kinase by okadaic acid. Herbimycin A and geldanamycin also abrogated okadaic-acid induced morphologic changes such as cell rounding and cell membrane blebbing. Herbimycin A and geldanamycin caused pronounced cell spreading, cell flattening, and a decrease in okadaic acid-induced loss of actin filaments. Interestingly, herbimycin A showed more potent inhibitory effect than geldanamycin, and herbimycin A alone inhibited okadaic acid-induced movement of p38 kinase into the cytosol. These results imply that decreased p38 activity and its cytosolic translocation together with cellular resistance to cytoskeletal disorganization may play a significant role in resistance to phosphorylation-dependent apoptosis. Furthermore, the results imply that changes in cell shape may partially modulate the observed alterations in signal transduction induced by okadaic acid.