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S Cockcroft

Publications and source records attributed to S Cockcroft.

108 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Plasma-membrane location of phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis in rabbit neutrophils stimulated with formylmethionyl-leucylphenylalanine.

Rabbit peritoneal neutrophils, disrupted by sonication, were separated into three subcellular fractions by sucrose-step-gradient centrifugation and these were analysed with respect to biochemical markers. They comprised a high-speed supernatant containing the cytosol, a light particulate fraction enriched in Golgi and plasma membranes and a heavy particulate fraction enriched in granules and nuclei. The light particulate fraction was further separated into its components, which were identified as Golgi membranes (galactosyltransferase activity) and plasma membranes ((radioactivity derived from labelling intact cells with [125I]di-iodosulphanilic acid diazonium salt and [3H]formylmethionyl-leucylphenylalanine ([3H]fMet-Leu-Phe) binding)). In cells prelabelled with [3H]glycerol, the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol due to cell stimulation with fMet-Leu-Phe (10 nM) was shown to occur in the light particulate fraction. The [32P]Pi-labelling of phosphatidate, which is an early consequence of phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis, also occurred in this fraction. Analytical sucrose-gradient centrifugation of the light particulate fraction showed that the stimulated increment in [32P]phosphatidate (and thus by implication the initial phosphatidylinositol breakdown) was localized in the plasma membrane.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

A modified procedure for thin-layer chromatography of phospholipids.

We have found that when lipid samples from a variety of tissues are run on EDTA-impregnated plates in a solvent system which contains a reduced amount of acetic acid and water compared with that used by Skipski et al. (1964. Biochem. J. 90: 374-378), there is a clear separation among sphingomyelin, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidate. This modified procedure appears to offer significant advantages over the original method described by Skipski et al. particularly for studies of the metabolism of anionic phospholipids.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

The dependence on Ca2+ of phosphatidylinositol breakdown and enzyme secretion in rabbit neutrophils stimulated by formylmethionyl-leucylphenylalanine or ionomycin.

1. We have measured the breakdown of [3H]phosphatidylinositol in rabbit neutrophils prelabelled with [3H]glycerol by a pulse-chase procedure. With a view to defining a possible causal relationship between phosphatidylinositol breakdown and enzyme secretion in these cells, we have compared the characteristics of both these processes induced by either the receptor-directed agonist formylmethionyl-leucylphenylalanine (fMet-Leu-Phe) or the Ca2+-ionophore ionomycin. 2. The dependence on fMet-Leu-Phe concentration of phosphatidylinositol breakdown and secretion is identical (half-maximal at 0.3 nM). This is 30-fold less than that required for half-maximal occupation of receptors. 3. Both secretion and breakdown of phosphatidylinositol due to fMet-Leu-Phe are modulated by extracellular Ca2+. The sensitivity to Ca2+ of both processes is enhanced by pretreatment to deplete cell Ca2+. The concentration of Ca2+ required to cause half-maximal effects of both processes in Ca2+-depleted cells on stimulation with 1nM-fMet-Leu-Phe is 100 microM. Ionomycin-stimulated secretion and breakdown of phosphatidylinositol are completely dependent on extracellular Ca2+ over similar concentration ranges. 4. Both secretion and phosphatidylinositol breakdown due to fMet-Leu-Phe approach completion by 10s. With ionomycin these processes are slower, terminating by 2 min. 5. In the presence of [32P]Pi, labelling of [32P]phosphatidic acid reaches a maximum 15 min after stimulation with either fMet-Leu-Phe or ionomycin. This precedes the labelling of [32P]phosphatidylinositol and shows the expected precursor-product relationship. 6. We conclude from these results that in rabbit neutrophils a rise in cytosol [Ca2+] is both sufficient and necessary to cause secretion and phosphatidylinositol breakdown. In cells depleted of Ca2+, the occupation of receptors by fMet-Leu-Phe is without effect on these two processes.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Rat mast cells permeabilized with ATP secrete histamine in response to calcium ions buffered in the micromolar range.

1. Rat mast cells with ATP (0.5-4 micro M) in the absence of divalent cations (so that almost all the ATP is present as ATP4-) became permeable to normally impermeant aqueous solutes, added extracellularly. These include the stable complexes Co HEDTA and Ca EDTA, and 6-carboxyfluorescein but not inulin. At 4 micro M-ATP4- the space accessible to Ca EDTA is 89% of that occupied by 3H2O. 2. The kinetics of solute entry are regulated by the concentration of ATP4-. 3. Ca2+, buffered in the range 1-10 micro M with HEDTA, causes histamine secretion from mast cells that have been rendered permeable with ATP4-. The extent of secretion increases as the concentration of ATP4- is raised from 3 to 5 micro M. With extracellular Ca2+ present as physiological (millimolar) concentrations, the effect of increasing ATP4- through this range is to inhibit secretion. 4. The rates of histamine secretion and of 32P-metabolite leakage from 32P-prelabelled cells in the presence of micromolar concentrations of Ca2+, were compared. The kinetics of both processes are regulated by the concentration of ATP4-, but not Ca2+.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1980

Stimulus-secretion coupling in rabbit neutrophils is not mediated by phosphatidylinositol breakdown.

In common with other cells which use intracellular Ca2+ to mediate specific cell function, when rabbit neutrophils are stimulated with specific agonists the rate of metabolism of phosphatidylinositol (PI) increases. This is normally measured as the incorporation of radioactive phosphate or inositol into PI, but these reactions are presumed to be secondary processes following the initial breakdown of pre-existing PI to diacylglycerol. The radioactive labels are incorporated during the stepwise resynthesis of PI via phosphatidic acid (PA). It has been suggested that in the sequence of biochemical events, starting with the binding of the ligand to a receptor, and finally resulting in the expression of cellular activity, the breakdown of PI is an early event immediately directed by activation of the receptor. This could then control the increase in cytoplasmic Ca2+ and other processes dependent on this. Here we report an analysis of the temporal relationship between these phospholipid changes and cell stimulation. Our evidence suggests that in neutrophils, PI breakdown and PA labelling are both consequences and not causes of a rise in intracellular Ca2+.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Use of cytochalasin B to distinguish between early and late events in neutrophil activation.

Cytochalasin B greatly enhances secretion of beta-glucuronidase and generation of superoxide on stimulation of rabbit peritoneal neutrophils with the soluble chemotactic factor N-formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine (f-Met-Leu-Phe). There are smaller changes due to cytochalasin B on binding of f-Met-Leu-[(3)H]-Phe, stimulation of phosphatidylinositol turnover and the stimulated increase in the permeability of the cell membrane to Ca(2+). These latter changes are probably artefactual and arise as secondary consequences of cell stimulation. Our observations support the notion that changes in Ca(2+) permeability of membranes and stimulation of phosphatidylinositol turnover reflect early stages in the sequence of events initiated by f-Met-Leu-Phe binding to its receptor and which lead to cell activation phenomena such as secretion and superoxide production.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

The ATP4- receptor of rat mast cells.

The concentration-dependence on exogenous ATP of activation and inhibition of mast-cell histamine secretion, phosphatidylinositol labelling and leakage of metabolites shows that all these functions are regulated by the free acid ATP4-. Maximal histamine secretion and phosphatidylinositol labelling occur with ATP4- at approx. 2 microM, but higher concentrations, which cause inhibition of secretion and phosphatidylinositol labelling, are required to maximize leakage of 32P-labelled metabolites. Both enhancement and inhibition of phosphatidylinositol labelling (due to low and high concentrations of ATP4- respectively) are rapid in onset; histamine secretion is characterized by a delay, especially at low concentrations of ATP4- (approx. 1 microM). Phosphatidylinositol labelling and histamine secretion are dependent on extracellular Ca2+. Metabolite leakage due to the presence of exogenous ATP4- is slow and does not require Ca2+. Of 18 analogues of ATP that were tested, only four were agonists for secretion, and only these four permitted leakage of 32P-labelled metabolites. It is argued that activation and inhibition of histamine secretion, phosphatidylinositol labelling and metabolite leakage are all initiated by ATP4- acting at the same receptor. For mast cells stimulated with ATP4- enhancement of phosphatidylinositol metabolism is not sufficient by itself to cause Ca2+-dependent secretion.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1980

Early events in the activation of Ca2+ dependent secretion: studies with rat peritoneal mast cells.

1. Secretion of histamine from mast cells is a Ca2+ dependent exocytotic process initiated by attachment of various agents to receptors on the cell surface. Secretion can also be triggered by the Ca2+ ionophores A23187 and ionomycin. Only in the case of the ionophores is the mechanism of Ca2+ mobilisation understood. 2. When agonist ligands are added to cells which have been preincubated with 32P-phosphate or 3H-inositol, one can detect an increase in the rate of labeling of phosphatidylinositol. As for other systems, the phosphatidylinositol response in mast cells shows the characteristics of an early receptor directed event. 3. We discuss the relationship of the phosphatidylinositol response and Ca2+ mobilisation in mast cell activation.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Stimulation of phosphatidylinositol turnover in various tissues by cholinergic and adrenergic agonists, by histamine and by caerulein.

Studies are reported of the biochemical and pharmacological characteristics of the stimulation of phosphatidylinositol metabolism that is produced in appropriate target tissues by stimulation of various receptors that use Ca(2+) as their second messenger. (1) Muscarinic cholinergic and alpha-adrenergic phosphatidylinositol responses were observed in rat lacrimal gland, and a response to caerulein was detected in the longitudinal smooth muscle of guinea-pig ileum. (2) The muscarinic cholinergic phosphatidylinositol response of rat lacrimal gland, like that of several other tissues, is not dependent on the availability of extracellular Ca(2+). (3) Three phosphatidylinositol responses, namely to histamine in guinea-pig ileum smooth muscle, to alpha-adrenergic stimulation in rat vas deferens and to muscarinic cholinergic stimulation in rat lacrimal gland, were all found to involve phosphatidylinositol breakdown. (4) The stereospecificity of the muscarinic receptor responsible for the phosphatidylinositol response of guinea-pig pancreas was tested by using the two stereoisomeric forms of acetyl-beta-methylcholine; the S-isomer was very much more active than the R-isomer in provoking both phosphatidylinositol breakdown and its labelling with (32)P, as it is in provoking other physiological responses such as contractility or secretion. (5) Pilocarpine, a muscarinic partial agonist, provoked a significantly smaller phosphatidylinositol breakdown in rat parotid fragments than did carbamoylcholine, a potent muscarinic agonist. (6) All of these results are consistent with, but do not prove, a previously offered hypothesis that suggests that phosphatidylinositol breakdown is a reaction essential to stimulus-response coupling at a variety of cell-surface receptors that mobilize Ca(2+) from and through the plasma membranes of target tissues.

Adrenergic Agonists↗
PubMed1979

Evidence for a role of phosphatidylinositol turnover in stimulus-secretion coupling. Studies with rat peritoneal mast cells.

Histamine secretion and phosphatidylinositol turnover were compared in antigen-sensitized rat peritoneal mast cells stimulated with a number of different ligands. A small and variable increase in the incorporation of [(32)P]P(i) and of [(3)H]inositol into phosphatidylinositol was observed when the cells were treated with immunoglobulin E-directed ligands (antigens and concanavalin A), and this was accompanied by a low amount of secretion (<10% of total cell histamine). In the presence of added phosphatidylserine, the addition of immunoglobulin E-directed ligands invariably led to an enhanced rate (approx. 4-fold) of labelling of phosphatidylinositol and, in the presence of Ca(2+), this was accompanied by the secretion of histamine. The labelling of phosphatidylinositol and histamine secretion were also stimulated by chymotrypsin and compound 48/80. Whereas the phosphatidylinositol response did not require the presence of extracellular Ca(2+), the secretion of histamine was either enhanced or dependent on extracellular Ca(2+) (depending on the ligand used). The dependence on ligand concentration for the phosphatidylinositol response and histamine secretion were similar. The increased isotopic incorporation into phosphatidylinositol continued for about 1h although histamine secretion (elicited with concanavalin A) stopped within 2min. These results support the proposition that metabolic events involving phosphatidylinositol play a necessary intermediate role in the regulation of Ca(2+) channels by ligand-activated receptors.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Activation and inhibition of calcium-dependent histamine secretion by ATP ions applied to rat mast cells.

1. The concentration dependence on ATP of mast cell histamine secretion in the presence of various concentrations of Mg2+ and Ca2+ confirms that the agonist form of ATP is the free form of ATP (ATP(free) not bound to divalent cations, i.e. ATP4-. It induces 50% activation at about 1.2 microM, maximal secretion at about 2.7 microM and 50% self-inhibition at about 4.4 microM. 2. The divalent cations Mg2+ and Ca2+ were used to buffer ATP(tree) in the range 1-8 microM in the presence of much higher concentrations of ATP(total). In addition to its effect as a buffer for ATP, Ca2+ is required for secretion. 3. With ATP(free) at 1 microM, the time-course of histamine secretion is characterized by a delay of about 10 min before secretion commences. With increasing concentration of ATP(free) the delay becomes shorter (less than 5 min with ATP(free) at 2 microM). 4. Secretion commences promptly on addition of Ca2+ to cells which have been pretreated with low concentrations of ATP(free) (less than 2 microM). This observation suggests that the delay normally observed represents the time taken for Ca2+ sensitivity to develop (i.e. probably the time taken for Ca2+ channels to open). 5. Late addition of Ca2+ to cells pretreated with higher concentrations of ATP(free) (greater than 2 microM) results in a reduced amount of histamine secretion compared with that which normally occurs. This reduction (which increases with time of exposure to ATP) and the self-inhibition due to higher concentrations of ATP(free) may be two facets of a common inhibitory mechanism. 6. These results are discussed in the light of other experiments which show that mast cells treated with ATP(free) at self-inhibitory concentrations become permeable to phosphorylated metabolites and nucleotides.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ionomycin stimulates mast cell histamine secretion by forming a lipid-soluble calcium complex.

The activation of cellular function following the direct introduction of Ca2+ into the cytosol by the use of a Ca2+-transporting ionophore has served to confirm the widely held idea that Ca2+ has the status of a second messenger in many cell types. However, this evidence has been obtained largely from the use of a single ionophore, the antibiotic A23187; experiments with X537A, which is another ionophorous antibiotic capable of transporting Ca2+ (ref. 3), have failed to show the expected characteristics. For example, histamine release from rat mast cells mediated by X537A is neither dependent on extracellular Ca2+ nor prevented by metabolic inhibitors. Ionomycin is a recently described polyether antibiotic produced by Streptomyces conglobatus ATCC 31005, and is active against Gram-positive bacteria. The antibiotic action is presumably due to its ionophorous properties, as it extracts Ca2+ from an aqueous phase into an organic phase with a stoichiometry of 1:1 (ref. 6). The ionophore is also capable of transporting 45Ca2+ across biological membranes (our unpublished results). Here we report the application of ionomycin to rat mast cells. We show that ionomycin stimulates mast cell secretion solely through its ability to form a lipid-soluble calcium complex, and thus to convey Ca2+ across the hydrocarbon region of the cell membrane.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Role of guanine nucleotide binding protein in the activation of polyphosphoinositide phosphodiesterase.

Interaction of ligands with 'Ca2+-mobilizing' receptors is thought to result in the generation of two second messengers, inositol trisphosphate and diacylglycerol, from a common substrate, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) (refs 1, 2), a component of plasma membranes. It is not known how the occupation of such receptors is translated into the activation of the catalytic unit polyphosphoinositide (PPI) phosphodiesterase, and then to cellular activation, but our recent experiments suggest that GTP regulatory proteins may be involved. In mast cells, non-hydrolysable analogues of GTP introduced and then trapped in the cytosol are able to substitute for external ligands in inducing exocytosis, a well-defined Ca2+-dependent process, suggesting that guanine nucleotide regulatory proteins may act by stimulating the catalytic activity of the PPI phosphodiesterase. We now provide evidence that mast cell secretion is inhibited by internalized neomycin, a compound known to interact with PPI. We also show that the PPI phosphodiesterase of human neutrophil plasma membranes can be activated simply by adding GTP analogues in the presence of concentrations of Ca2+ that pertain in unstimulated cells. These findings strongly support the idea that the coupling factor linking receptor and PPI phosphodiesterase is a guanine nucleotide binding protein analogous to those involved in the activation and inhibition of adenylate cyclase.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Stimulated neutrophils from patients with autosomal recessive chronic granulomatous disease fail to phosphorylate a Mr-44,000 protein.

Phagocytosing neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages and eosinophils produce a burst of non-mitochondrial respiration that is important for the killing and digestion of microbes. Much of the information about the oxidase system involved comes from studies on patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), a syndrome in which an undue predisposition to infection results from complete absence of this burst of stimulated respiratory activity. The basis of the oxidase activity is an electron transport chain, the only established component of which is a very unusual b-type cytochrome (b-245) (ref. 2). The molecular defect in the X-linked subgroup of CGD is the absence of this cytochrome b-245, which, however, appears to be normal in those subjects with the autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. In an attempt to identify an abnormality of activation, or an absence or malfunction of a proximal component of the electron transport chain in this latter group, we examined protein phosphorylation in neutrophils after activation of the oxidase with phorbol myristate acetate. All four of the patients studied demonstrated a selective lack of the enhanced phosphorylation of a protein of relative molecular mass (Mr) 44,000 (44K) that was observed in normal subjects and in two CGD patients with an X-linked inheritance. This molecule, therefore, could be an important functional component of the oxidase.

Genes, Recessive↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Two roles for guanine nucleotides in the stimulus-secretion sequence of neutrophils.

The term 'stimulus-secretion coupling' has, since first enunciated, been held to involve the mobilization of cytosol Ca2+, which in turn is sufficient to trigger exocytotic secretory processes in metabolically competent cells. However, recent studies on a wide range of secretory cell types indicate that a role for Ca2+ can be obviated: examples are stimulation with phorbol ester (phorbol myristate acetate, PMA) which causes the activation of protein kinase C or the stimulation of platelets with collagen. Ca2+-independent exocytosis also occurs when analogues of GTP are injected through the lumen of patch pipettes directly into the cytosol of mass cells. The results presented here suggest that GTP analogues can activate secretory processes by actions at two distinct locations: one may be at the level of the receptor involving the activation of polyphosphoinositide (PPI) phosphodiesterase with consequent liberation of diacylglycerol (DG); the other involves direct activation of the exocytotic mechanism. These conclusions are based on measurements of exocytotic secretion from permeabilized neutrophils into which we have been able to introduce, individually and in combination, Ca2+ chelators (EGTA and BAPTA), Ca2+ (buffered at micromolar concentrations with EGTA), analogues of GTP and GDP and the direct activator of protein kinase C, PMA.

Animals↗