melitten and 1-6-bis(cyclohexyloximinocarbonyl)hexane

Melittin is known as a phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activator, but the selectivity of its effect on PLA2 is uncertain. We examined the selectivity of melittin effect on the release of free fatty acids (FFAs) from L1210 cells using various inhibitors. A systemic lipid analysis by HPLC and GLC revealed that melittin induced release of various FFAs including saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated FFAs. Various PLA2 inhibitors examined exerted only minimal effects on the melittin-induced arachidonic acid (AA) and palmitic acid (PAL) releases. Specific inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol-phospholipase C (U73122) and diacylglycerol lipase (RHC80267) exerted significant inhibitory effects on both AA and PAL releases. These results suggest that melittin-induced FFA release is most likely due to multiple participations of various types of lipases. Since BAPTA/AM, an intracellular Ca2+ chelator, did not influence the FFA release, the Ca2+ influxed by melittin appeared not to be a key factor for the FFA release. The mimicking of the melittin-induced FFA release by digitonin, a membrane-permeabilizing agent, implies that the membrane-perturbing action of melittin is likely the cause of the FFA release. Melittin also induced release of multiple FFAs from other cell lines including P388D1 and HL60. The rapid melittin-stimulated phospholipase D (PLD) observed in L1210 cells appeared not directly related to the steady release of FFA, as indicated by the fact that the PLD was not blocked by RHC80267. In view of melittin's multiple effects on the composition of cellular lipids, we conclude that melittin does neither exclusively release any single FFA nor selectively activate PLA2 in L1210 cells. The problem of using melittin as a PLA2 activator is discussed.

Topics: Animals; Arachidonic Acid; Calcium; Cell Line; Cell Membrane Permeability; Cyclohexanones; Digitonin; Enzyme Activation; Enzyme Inhibitors; Estrenes; Ethidium; Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; Humans; Leukemia L1210; Lipoprotein Lipase; Melitten; Mice; Palmitic Acid; Phospholipases A; Phospholipases A2; Pyrrolidinones; Type C Phospholipases

Recent studies have suggested the involvement of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) in pancreatic amylase secretion. The present study was designed to investigate the secretory role of arachidonic acid (AA) in carbachol (Cch)-stimulated rat pancreatic acini and its origin. From enzymatic assays, PLA2 and diacylglycerol (DAG) lipase were activated by Cch and respectively inhibited by the PLA2 inhibitors, mepacrine and aristolochic acid, and by the DAG lipase inhibitor, RHC 80267. Melittin-activated PLA2 activity was also inhibited by the PLA2 inhibitors. Cch-stimulated endogenous AA release from pancreatic acini was partially inhibited by 150 microM RHC 80267 and by 150 microM mepacrine or 200 microM aristolochic acid and totally inhibited by a combination of the two enzyme inhibitors. Exogenous AA caused amylase release in a concentration-dependent manner. Eicosatetraynoic acid (a cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase inhibitor), significantly increased basal and Cch-induced AA release and amylase secretion. RHC 80267 and the PLA2 inhibitors separately and partially suppressed Cch-stimulated amylase secretion, with an additive effect observed when the DAG lipase and the PLA2 inhibitors were combined. A combination of RHC 80267, mepacrine, or aristolochic acid and the phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor U73122 completely inhibited Cch-stimulated amylase secretion. Finally, the PLA2 activator melittin-stimulated amylase secretion was blocked by the two PLA2 inhibitors. We conclude that exogenous and endogenous AA can induce amylase secretion. Therefore, AA released from either PLC-DAG lipase or PLA2 pathways can be considered an additional and important intracellular mediator of amylase secretion.

Topics: Amylases; Animals; Arachidonic Acid; Aristolochic Acids; Carbachol; Cyclohexanones; Enzyme Inhibitors; In Vitro Techniques; Lipoprotein Lipase; Male; Melitten; Pancreas; Phenanthrenes; Phospholipases A; Phospholipases A2; Quinacrine; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

The association of prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) production as well as arachidonic acid release with the phospholipase D (PLD)-linked mechanism was studied in rat peritoneal mast cells. Stimulation of mast cells with cross-linking of the high-affinity Fc receptor for IgE caused increases in the release of arachidonic acid and PGD2, which are suppressed almost completely by ethanol or RHC 80267, a diacylglycerol lipase inhibitor. Ethanol did not influence inositol phosphate release in response to an antigen. An increase in diacylglycerol, that is inhibited by propranolol, was observed, with a peak within 1 min. Antigen stimulation induced little production of lysophosphatidylcholine, while ionomycin as a control markedly induced the production. However, the phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activity in the cytosol of antigen-stimulated cells increased to the level in ionomycin-stimulated cells. The addition of the ADP-ribosylation factor-containing fraction prepared from bovine brain, that is known to specifically activate PLD, to permeabilized mast cells in the presence of GTP gamma S, apparently increased arachidonic acid and PGD2 release, but not in the presence of ethanol. Furthermore, arachidonic acid release by an antigen was enhanced by melittin, that activates PLA2, but PGD2 production was not. These results suggest that antigen-stimulated PGD2 production as well as arachidonic acid release are strongly associated with the sequential PLD-linked pathway.

Topics: Adenosine Diphosphate Ribose; ADP-Ribosylation Factors; Animals; Arachidonic Acid; Brain; Cattle; Choline; Cyclohexanones; Dinitrophenols; Enzyme Activation; Enzyme Inhibitors; Ethanol; GTP-Binding Proteins; Inositol; Inositol Phosphates; Ionomycin; Kinetics; Lipoprotein Lipase; Lysophosphatidylcholines; Male; Mast Cells; Melitten; Peritoneal Cavity; Phospholipase D; Propranolol; Prostaglandin D2; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Receptors, IgE; Serum Albumin, Bovine

Cerebellar neurons, cultured on monolayers of 3T3 fibroblasts or on a polylysine/laminin-coated substratum, responded to recombinant basic FGF by extending longer neurites. The response was biphasic reaching a maximum at 5 ng/ml FGF, but desensitising at 100-200 ng/ml FGF. The response to FGF could be inhibited by a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (the erbstatin analogue), by a diacylglycerol lipase inhibitor (RHC-80267) and by a combination of N- and L-type calcium channel antagonists or other agents that negate the effects of calcium influx into neurons. The response to FGF could be fully mimicked by arachidonic acid added directly to the cultures, or generated via activation of phospholipase A2 with melittin. The response to melittin, but not to FGF or arachidonic acid, was inhibited by 4-bromophenacyl bromide, a phospholipase A2 inhibitor. The response to arachidonic acid was also biphasic and high concentrations of this agent could cross-desensitise the FGF response and vice versa. The response to arachidonic acid could be fully inhibited by the agents that block or negate the effects of calcium influx into neurons, but was not inhibited by the tyrosine kinase or diacylglycerol lipase inhibitors. These data suggest that FGF stimulates neurite outgrowth by activating a cascade that involves activation of phospholipase C gamma to produce diacylglycerol, conversion of diacylglycerol to arachidonic acid by diacylglycerol lipase and the activation of voltage-gated calcium channels by arachidonic acid.

Topics: 3T3 Cells; Animals; Arachidonic Acid; Calcium; Calcium Channel Blockers; Cells, Cultured; Cerebellum; Cyclohexanones; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; Hydroquinones; Melitten; Mice; Neurites; Neurons; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; Second Messenger Systems; Virulence Factors, Bordetella

The protein kinase C (PKC) activator, phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu) induced the release of both luteinizing hormone (LH) and growth hormone (GH) from proestrous rat anterior pituitary pieces in vitro. Phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate-induced LH, but not GH release was readily inhibited by the phospholipase A2 (PLA2) inhibitors, quinacrine, aristolochic acid, ONO-RS-082 and chloracysine. Furthermore, PDBu induced release of [3H]arachidonic acid ([3H]AA) from pre-labelled anterior pituitary tissue that was prevented in the presence of quinacrine, aristolochic acid and ONO-RS-082 but not the diglyceride lipase inhibitor RHC 80267. The effect of PDBu was completely inhibited by staurosporine and the selective PKC inhibitor Ro 31-8220 but only partially by low concentrations of H7; consistent with the involvement of both H7-sensitive and H7-resistant forms of PKC in the activation of PLA2 by PDBu. The protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide inhibited the release of both [3H]AA and LH that had been induced by PDBu, whereas LH release induced by the PLA2 activator mellitin was cycloheximide-insensitive. These results suggest that PKC activators may induce LH but not GH release from anterior pituitary tissue by a mechanism involving activation of a PLA2, brought about by a process which is reliant on protein synthesis.

Topics: 1-(5-Isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-Methylpiperazine; Alkaloids; Aminobenzoates; Animals; Arachidonic Acid; Aristolochic Acids; Chlorobenzoates; Cinnamates; Cyclohexanones; Cycloheximide; Enzyme Activation; Female; Growth Hormone; Indoles; Ionomycin; Isoquinolines; Luteinizing Hormone; Melitten; ortho-Aminobenzoates; Phenanthrenes; Phenothiazines; Phorbol 12,13-Dibutyrate; Phospholipases A; Phospholipases A2; Piperazines; Pituitary Gland, Anterior; Proestrus; Protein Kinase C; Quinacrine; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Signal Transduction; Staurosporine