Activation mechanisms of platelet-activating factor in U937 cells: possible involvement of protein kinase C

Platelet-activating factor priming of inflammatory cell activity requires cellular adherence

BACKGROUND

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) primes tissue-fixed inflammatory cells, but has no effect on circulating cells. Adherence of inflammatory cells leads to cytoskeletal reorganization, which is essential for optimal inflammatory function. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether cellular adherence plays a role in PAF priming of inflammatory cells.

METHODS

Differentiated THP-1 cells were maintained under adherent and nonadherent conditions. Selected cells were pretreated with PAF, followed by endotoxin stimulation. Cellular and nuclear proteins were analyzed by Western blot for components of the Toll-like receptor-mediated signaling cascade. Cytokine analysis was performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTS

Endotoxin led to activation of interleukin (IL)-1-associated kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and p38, and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappaB, all of which were significantly enhanced by previous cellular adherence. PAF led to priming only under adherent conditions, demonstrated by increased IL-1-associated kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 activity; nuclear factor-kappaB translocation; and IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha production over non-PAF-treated cells. PAF had no significant effect on p38 activity or IL-10 production under any condition.

CONCLUSIONS

PAF primes mononuclear cells by increasing Toll-mediated signaling only under adherent conditions. This, therefore, would limit PAF-induced priming in vivo to foci of stimulated adherent inflammatory cells with little effect systemically on circulating cells.

Activation of PKC, superoxide anion production and LDL lipid peroxidation are not dependent on phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C activity in U937 cells

Our previous studies have shown that both increase in Ca2+ levels and activation of protein kinase C (PKC) are required for monocyte-mediated O2- production and low density lipoprotein (LDL) peroxidation. Phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (phosphoinositidase C or PIC) is believed to mediate release of intracellular Ca2+ through InsP3 formation and activation of PKC through diacylglycerol (DAG). In these studies, we investigated the PIC pathway for its participation in monocytic cell-mediated lipid peroxidation of LDL. We found substantial InsP3 formation in opsonized zymosan (ZOP)-activated U937-b cells, indicating the activation of PIC. Both inhibition of PIC by the PIC inhibitor U-73122 and reduction of the supply of the precursor lipid by lithium chloride suppressed InsP3 formation but did not alter LDL lipid peroxidation nor O2- production by activated cells. Furthermore, we also found that suppression of PIC activity had no substantial inhibitory effect on PKC activity in ZOP-activated human monocytes. Our data suggest that PIC activity is induced upon cell activation resulting in increased levels of InsP3. The activity of this pathway, however, is not required for cell-mediated O2- production, PKC activation or LDL oxidation.

Agonist-induced down-regulation of platelet-activating factor receptor gene expression in U937 cells

Prolonged exposure (8-24 h) of human promonocytic U937 cells to 100 nM 1-O-hexadecyl-2-N-methylcarbamyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (carbarmyl-PAF), a non-metabolizable analogue of platelet-activating factor (PAF), reduced the numbers of PAF receptors by 50-75%, as determined by the radioligand-binding assay. To clarify whether the down-regulation of receptor numbers is due to decreased expression level of the PAF-receptor gene, the effect of carbamyl-PAF on the steady-state level of PAF-receptor mRNA was examined by a highly sensitive reverse-transcriptase PCR method. A 50% decline in the level of PAF-receptor mRNA was observed in U937 cells pretreated with 100 nM carbamyl-PAF for 24 h. The effect of carbamyl-PAF was dose-dependent, with an EC50 value around 10 nM. PAF-receptor antagonist, SRI-63675, was able to attenuate the effect of carbamyl-PAF. Furthermore lysoPAF, at 1 uM, was unable to induce a significant decrease in PAF-receptor mRNA after incubation for 24 h, indicating that the effect of carbamyl-PAF was specific. The half-life of the PAF-receptor mRNA measured in the presence of actinomycin D was unaffected by carbamyl-PAF treatment. In contrast, nuclear run-off experiments demonstrated that the transcription rate of the PAF-receptor gene in carbamyl-PAF-treated cells was about 65% of that in control cells. These results suggest that the PAF receptor in U937 cells is subject to down-regulation by agonist, at least partly, at the transcriptional level.

Lipoprotein-associated paf (LA-paf) was found in washed human platelets and monocyte/macrophage-like U937 cells

Beyond cholesterol, inflammatory ether phospholipids such as platelet-activating factor (paf) may play a role in atherogenesis. (1) We detected a paf-like compound ('LA-paf') associated with human serum lipoproteins, mainly in LDL but not with the lipoprotein-poor fraction. (2) LA-paf was also found in washed human platelets, from where it was partially released during platelet aggregation in response to paf (50 nM) or thrombin (1 U). In addition, resident monocyte/macrophage-like U937 cells carried huge amounts of LA-paf (41 ng per 10(7) cells) and metabolized added [3H]paf to a labelled compound co-eluting with the retention time of LA-paf in standard HPLC. (3) Functionally, LA-paf had a comparable potency to synthetic paf, because LA-paf aggregated washed aspirin-treated platelets in a concentration-dependent manner. The specific paf receptor antagonist WEB2086 inhibited the platelet aggregation induced by three distinct LA-paf preparations as compared with synthetic paf with similar inhibitory concentrations (IC50: 35.6 +/- 12.8, 24.0 +/- 4.0, 38.0 +/- 15.8 nM for LA-paf, and 43.6 +/- 6.5 nM for synthetic paf), indicating that LA-paf interacted with paf receptors. (4) However, LA-paf had a distinct retention time using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) as compared with synthetic paf. LA-paf eluted at 9-15 min and synthetic paf at 21-24 min. In addition, total and non-specific [3H]paf binding to intact washed human platelets was affected differently by the two unlabelled agonists: while LA-paf increased total and non-specific (but not specific) binding in a significant manner (P < 0.002 and P < 0.007) as LDL did (P < 0.006 and P < 0.03), synthetic paf decreased total binding (P < 0.03). Similarly, low-density lipoproteins (LDL) increased significantly the total [3H]paf binding. In contrast, paf did not affect specific [125I]LDL binding to human fibroblasts. Our results show the presence of LA-paf in lipoproteins, washed human platelets and monocyte/macrophage-like cells. As LDL and LA-paf purified from the same LDL particles increased significantly the total [3H]paf binding to intact human platelets, it might modulate platelet adherence to vascular endothelial cells.