Acute hyperglycemia may contribute to the progression of atherosclerosis by regulating protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes and by accelerating vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. We investigated acute glucose regulation of PKCbeta gene expression in A10 cells, a rat aortic smooth muscle cell line. Western blot analysis showed that PKCbetaII protein levels decreased with high glucose (25 mM) compared to normal glucose (5.5 mM), whereas PKCbetaI levels were unaltered. PKCbeta mRNA levels were depleted by 60-75% in hyperglycemic conditions. To elucidate whether high glucose regulated PKCbeta expression via the common promoter for PKCbetaI and PKCbetaII, deletion constructs of the PKCbeta promoter ligated to CAT as reporter gene were transfected into A10 cells. Construct D (-411 to +179CAT) showed quenching in high glucose (25 mM) and suggested the involvement of a carbohydrate response element in the 5' promoter region of the PKCbeta gene. In actinomycin D-treated A10 cells, a 60% decrease in PKCbeta mRNA with high glucose treatment indicated that posttranscriptional destabilization by glucose was also occurring. We have demonstrated that glucose-induced posttranscriptional destabilization of PKCbetaII message is mediated via a nuclease activity present in the cytosol. The specificity of glucose to posttranscriptionally destabilize PKCbetaII mRNA, but not the PKCbetaI mRNA, was confirmed in both A10 cells and primary cultures from human aorta.