An Antisense of Protein Kinase C- ζ Inhibits Proliferation of Human Airway Smooth Muscle Cells

We hypothesized that an atypical isoform of protein kinase (PK) C, PKC- ζ , is essential for proliferation of human airway smooth muscle (HASM) cells in primary culture. Recombinant replication-deficient E1-deleted adenoviruses (100 plaque-forming units [pfu]/cell) expressing the antisense of PKC- ζ and the wild-type PKC- ζ (Ad-CMV–PKC- ζ ) were added to actively growing cells that were subsequently incubated for 48 h in platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) 40 ng/mL or 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Expression of the antisense at a virus concentration of 100 pfu/cell produced a significant (n = 3, P < 0.05) decrease in the mean manual cell count in the presence of PDGF to 37 ± 5% relative to that in cells with no virus (100%), whereas in cells infected with virus containing no construct, this figure was 102 ± 13%. The increase in cell number in response to FBS, however, was not affected by the presence of the antisense. Corresponding values for cells in 10% FBS were 100 ± 22%, 85 ± 22%, and 122 ± 18%. Wes...