PKCδ deficiency inhibits fetal development and is associated with heart elastic fiber hyperplasia and lung inflammation in adult PKCδ knockout mice

PLoS One. 2021 Jul 1;16(7):e0253912. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253912. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Protein kinase C-delta (PKCδ) has a caspase-3 recognition sequence in its structure, suggesting its involvement in apoptosis. In addition, PKCδ was recently reported to function as an anti-cancer factor. The generation of a PKCδ knockout mouse model indicated that PKCδ plays a role in B cell homeostasis. However, the Pkcrd gene, which is regulated through complex transcription, produces multiple proteins via alternative splicing. Since gene mutations can result in the loss of function of molecular species required for each tissue, in the present study, conditional PKCδ knockout mice lacking PKCδI, II, IV, V, VI, and VII were generated to enable tissue-specific deletion of PKCδ using a suitable Cre mouse. We generated PKCδ-null mice that lacked whole-body expression of PKCδ. PKCδ+/- parental mice gave birth to only 3.4% PKCδ-/- offsprings that deviated significantly from the expected Mendelian ratio (χ2(2) = 101.7, P < 0.001). Examination of mice on embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5) showed the proportion of PKCδ-/- mice implanted in the uterus in accordance with Mendelian rules; however, approximately 70% of the fetuses did not survive at E11.5. PKCδ-/- mice that survived until adulthood showed enlarged spleens, with some having cardiac and pulmonary abnormalities. Our findings suggest that the lack of PKCδ may have harmful effects on fetal development, and heart and lung functions after birth. Furthermore, our study provides a reference for future studies on PKCδ deficient mice that would elucidate the effects of the multiple protein variants in mice and decipher the roles of PKCδ in various diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Elastic Tissue / immunology
  • Elastic Tissue / pathology*
  • Female
  • Fetal Development / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Hyperplasia / genetics
  • Hyperplasia / pathology
  • Lung / immunology
  • Lung / pathology*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Pneumonia / genetics*
  • Pneumonia / immunology
  • Pneumonia / pathology
  • Protein Kinase C-delta / deficiency*
  • Protein Kinase C-delta / genetics

Substances

  • Prkcd protein, mouse
  • Protein Kinase C-delta

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) grant numbers 21590204:YSN and 15K10689:YSN, and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP 16H06276 (AdAMS):HK. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.