Myocardial phospholipases A2 and their membrane substrates

Phospholipid alterations in the brain and heart in a rat model of asphyxia-induced cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary bypass resuscitation

Cardiac arrest (CA) induces whole-body ischemia, causing damage to multiple organs. Ischemic damage to the brain is mainly responsible for patient mortality. However, the molecular mechanism responsible for brain damage is not understood. Prior studies have provided evidence that degradation of membrane phospholipids plays key roles in ischemia/reperfusion injury. The aim of this study is to correlate organ damage to phospholipid alterations following 30 min asphyxia-induced CA or CA followed by cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) resuscitation using a rat model. Following 30 min CA and CPB resuscitation, rats showed no brain function, moderately compromised heart function, and died within a few hours; typical outcomes of severe CA. However, we did not find any significant change in the content or composition of phospholipids in either tissue following 30 min CA or CA followed by CPB resuscitation. We found a substantial increase in lysophosphatidylinositol in both tissues, and a small increase in lysophosphatidylethanolamine and lysophosphatidylcholine only in brain tissue following CA. CPB resuscitation significantly decreased lysophosphatidylinositol but did not alter the other lyso species. These results indicate that a decrease in phospholipids is not a cause of brain damage in CA or a characteristic of brain ischemia. However, a significant increase in lysophosphatidylcholine and lysophosphatidylethanolamine found only in the brain with more damage suggests that impaired phospholipid metabolism may be correlated with the severity of ischemia in CA. In addition, the unique response of lysophosphatidylinositol suggests that phosphatidylinositol metabolism is highly sensitive to cellular conditions altered by ischemia and resuscitation.

Examination of physiological function and biochemical disorders in a rat model of prolonged asphyxia-induced cardiac arrest followed by cardio pulmonary bypass resuscitation

Background

Cardiac arrest induces whole body ischemia, which causes damage to multiple organs particularly the heart and the brain. There is clinical and preclinical evidence that neurological injury is responsible for high mortality and morbidity of patients even after successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A better understanding of the metabolic alterations in the brain during ischemia will enable the development of better targeted resuscitation protocols that repair the ischemic damage and minimize the additional damage caused by reperfusion.

Method

A validated whole body model of rodent arrest followed by resuscitation was utilized; animals were randomized into three groups: control, 30 minute asphyxial arrest, or 30 minutes asphyxial arrest followed by 60 min cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) resuscitation. Blood gases and hemodynamics were monitored during the procedures. An untargeted metabolic survey of heart and brain tissues following cardiac arrest and after CPB resuscitation was conducted to better define the alterations associated with each condition.

Results

After 30 min cardiac arrest and 60 min CPB, the rats exhibited no observable brain function and weakened heart function in a physiological assessment. Heart and brain tissues harvested following 30 min ischemia had significant changes in the concentration of metabolites in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. In addition, the brain had increased lysophospholipid content. CPB resuscitation significantly normalized metabolite concentrations in the heart tissue, but not in the brain tissue.

Conclusion

The observation that metabolic alterations are seen primarily during cardiac arrest suggests that the events of ischemia are the major cause of neurological damage in our rat model of asphyxia-CPB resuscitation. Impaired glycolysis and increased lysophospholipids observed only in the brain suggest that altered energy metabolism and phospholipid degradation may be a central mechanism in unresuscitatable brain damage.

Analysis of phospholipids by NACE with on-line ESI-MS

A hyphenated method of nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (NACE-ESI-MS) is described for the simultaneous analysis of phospholipids. The best results were obtained with a mixed solution of methanol/ACN (40:60 v/v) containing 20 mM ammonium acetate and 0.5% acetic acid, under the applied voltage of 30 kV and capillary temperature of 25 degrees C. ESI-MS measurements were performed in the negative mode with methanol/ACN (40:60 v/v) containing 50 mM ammonium acetate as sheath liquid at a flow rate of 2 microL/min. Different phospholipid classes have been successfully separated within 16 min, and the molecular species of every single class have been identified by using MS(2) or MS(3), which generates characteristic fragments through CID. The developed method has been applied to analyze the phospholipids extracted from rat peritoneal surface and the molecular species of phospholipid classes are presented.

Beneficial effects of phosphatidylcholine during hindlimb reperfusion

BACKGROUND

Microcirculatory dysfunctions and mast cell (MC) reactions play important roles in hypoxic tissue injuries. The aims of this study were to characterize the effects of hindlimb ischemia-reperfusion (I-R) on the periosteal microcirculation and to define the consequences of systemic phosphatidylcholine (PC) therapy during this condition.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Microcirculatory changes were visualized by means of fluorescence intravital videomicroscopy in anesthetized Wistar rats. There was 60 min of complete hindlimb ischemia followed by a 180-min reperfusion in the presence of PC treatment (50 mg/kg i.v.; in the second 10 min of reperfusion) or vehicle. Further two groups served as vehicle- or PC-treated sham-operated controls. The proportion of degranulated MCs and the leukocyte accumulation (myeloperoxidase, MPO assay) were determined in muscle biopsies.

RESULTS

I-R significantly increased the muscle MPO activity (from 14.94 to 63.45 mU/mg) and the proportion of degranulated MCs (to 82.5%). The periosteal capillary RBC velocity (RBCV) and the functional capillary density (FCD) had decreased, while the primary and secondary leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions had increased by the end of reperfusion (rolling from 20.8 to 40.0%, and firm adherence from 254 to 872 mm(-2)). PC treatment decreased the leukocyte rolling and sticking, preserved the FCD and improved the RBCV. The MC degranulation and MPO activity diminished significantly in the muscle layer.

CONCLUSIONS

PC administration improves I-R-induced periosteal microcirculatory dysfunctions and ameliorates secondary inflammatory reactions. Systemic PC treatment could offer a potential treatment modality during hypoperfusion or inflammatory conditions of the bones.

Dietary fish oil alters cardiomyocyte Ca2+ dynamics and antioxidant status

The n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) found in fish oil (FO) have been shown to protect against reperfusion arrhythmias, a manifestation of reperfusion injury, which is believed to be induced by the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and intracellular calcium (Ca2+) overload. Adult rats fed a diet supplemented with 10% FO had a higher proportion of myocardial n-3 PUFAs and increased expression of antioxidant enzymes compared with the saturated fat (SF)-supplemented group. Addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to cardiomyocytes isolated from rats in the SF-supplemented group increased the proportions of cardiomyocytes contracting in an asynchronous manner, increased the rate of Ca2+ influx, and increased the diastolic and systolic [Ca2+]i compared with the FO group. H2O2 exposure increased the membrane fluidity of cardiomyocytes from the FO group. These results demonstrate that dietary FO supplementation is associated with a reduction in the susceptibility of myocytes to ROS-induced injury and this may be related to membrane incorporation of n-3 PUFAs, increased antioxidant defenses, changes in cardiomyocyte membrane fluidity, and the ability to prevent rises in cellular Ca2+ in response to ROS.

Functional lipidomics: the roles of specialized lipids and lipid–protein interactions in modulating neuronal function

Lipids fulfill multiple specialized roles in neuronal function. In brain, the conduction of electrical impulses, synaptic function, and complex signaling pathways depend on the temporally and spatially coordinated interactions of specialized lipids (e.g., arachidonic acid and plasmalogens), proteins (e.g., ion channels, phospholipases and cyclooxygenases) and integrative lipid-protein interactions. Recent technical advances in mass spectrometry have allowed unparalled insight into the roles of lipids in neuronal function. Through shotgun lipidomics and multidimensional mass spectrometry, in conjunction with the identification of new classes of phospholipases (e.g., calcium dependent and calcium independent intracellular phospholipases), new roles for lipids in cerebral function have been accrued. This review summarizes the advances in our understanding of the types of lipids and phospholipases in the brain and the role of functional lipidomics in increasing our chemical understanding of complex neuronal processes.

Shotgun lipidomics: electrospray ionization mass spectrometric analysis and quantitation of cellular lipidomes directly from crude extracts of biological samples

Lipidomics, after genomics and proteomics, is a newly and rapidly expanding research field that studies cellular lipidomes and the organizational hierarchy of lipid and protein constituents mediating life processes. Lipidomics is greatly facilitated by recent advances in, and novel applications of, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI/MS). In this review, we will focus on the advances in ESI/MS, which have facilitated the development of shotgun lipidomics and the utility of intrasource separation as an enabling strategy for utilization of 2D mass spectrometry in shotgun lipidomics of biological samples. The principles and experimental details of the intrasource separation approach will be extensively discussed. Other ESI/MS approaches towards the quantitative analyses of global cellular lipidomes directly from crude lipid extracts of biological samples will also be reviewed and compared. Multiple examples of lipidomic analyses from crude lipid extracts employing these approaches will be given to show the power of ESI/MS techniques in lipidomics. Currently, modern society is plagued by the sequelae of lipid-related diseases. It is our hope that the integration of these advances in multiple disciplines will catalyze the development of lipidomics, and such development will lead to improvements in diagnostics and therapeutics, which will ultimately result in the extended longevity and an improved quality of life for humankind.

Prevention of Ventricular Fibrillation, Acute Myocardial Infarction (Myocardial Necrosis), Heart Failure, and Mortality by Bretylium

It is widely, but mistakenly, believed that ischemic heart disease (IsHD) and its complications are the sole and direct result of reduced coronary blood flow by obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). However, cardiac angina, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and sudden cardiac death (SCD) occur in 15%-20% of patients with anatomically unobstructed and grossly normal coronaries. Moreover, severe obstructive coronary disease often occurs without associated pathologic myocardiopathy or prior symptoms, ie, unexpected sudden death, silent myocardial infarction, or the insidious appearance of congestive heart failure (CHF). The fact that catecholamines explosively augment oxidative metabolism much more than cardiac work is generally underappreciated. Thus, adrenergic actions alone are likely to be more prone to cause cardiac ischemia than reduced coronary blood flow per se. The autonomic etiology of IsHD raises contradictions to the traditional concept of anatomically obstructive CAD as the lone cause of cardiac ischemia and AMI. Actually, all the signs and symptoms of IsHD reflect autonomic nervous system imbalance, particularly adrenergic hyperactivity, which may by itself cause ischemia as in rest angina. Adrenergic activity causing ischemia signals cardiac pain to pain centers via sympathetic efferent pathways and tend to induce arrhythmogenic and necrotizing ischemic actions on the cardiovascular system. This may result in ischemia induced metabolic myocardiopathy not unlike that caused by anatomic or spasmogenic coronary obstruction. The clinical study and review presented herein suggest that adrenergic hyperactivity alone without CAD can be a primary cause of IsHD. Thus, adrenergic heart disease (AdHD), or actually adrenergic cardiovascular heart disease (ACVHD), appears to be a distinct entity, most commonly but not necessarily occurring in parallel with CAD. CAD certainly contributes to vulnerability as well as the progression of IsHD. This vicious cycle, which explains the frequent parallel occurrence of arteriosclerosis and IHD, an association that appears to be linked by the same cause, comprises a common vulnerability to deleterious adrenergic actions on the myocardium, lipid metabolism, and vascular system alike, rather than viewing CAD and IsHD as having a putative cause and effect relationship as commonly thought. Adrenergic actions can also cause the abnormal lipid metabolism that is associated with CAD and IsHD by catecholamine-induced metabolic actions on lipid mobilization by activation of phospholipases. This may also be part of toxic catecholamine hypermetabolic actions by enhancing deleterious cholesterol and lipid actions in damaging coronary vessels by plaque formation as well as inducing obstructive coronary spasm and platelet aggregation. This may also cause direct toxic necrosis on the myocardium as well as atherosclerosis in blood vessels. In fact, drugs that inhibit adrenergic actions like propranolol, reserpine, and guanethidine all inhibit arteriosclerosis induced by hypercholesterolemia in experimental animals and prevent carotid vascular disease (associated with stroke) in humans. The concomitant development of myocardiopathy and coronary vascular lesions or coronary and carotid artery intimal medial thickening by catecholamine toxicity is reflected by the frequent primary presentation of patients with catecholamine-secreting pheochromocytoma with cardiovascular disease, ie, hypertension arrhythmias, AMI, SCD, CHF, and vascular disease, which represents a clear example of the primary deleterious impact of catecholamines on the entire cardiovascular system causing adrenergic cardiovascular disease. Thus, like myocardiopathy, CAD and atherosclerosis in general may be the consequences of or a complication of catecholamine actions rather than its putative cause. This report shows how prophylactic bretylium not only prevents arrhythmias but prevents myocardial necrosis, shock, CHF, maintains or restores normal contractility, and lowers mortality in AMI patients by inducing adrenergic blockade.

Release of choline in the isolated heart, an indicator of ischemic phospholipid degradation and its protection by ischemic preconditioning: No evidence for a role of phospholipase D

The release of choline as a water-soluble product of phospholipid hydrolysis was measured in the perfusate of rat hearts to monitor ischemic membrane degradation and its protection by ischemic preconditioning (IPC). Hearts were subjected to global ischemia (GI; 30 min of no-flow) followed by 60 min of reperfusion. To induce IPC, GI was preceded by four no-flow episodes of 5 min each. Deleterious consequences of GI and reperfusion, namely coronary flow reduction, incidence of arrhythmias and release of cardiac troponin T, were significantly attenuated by IPC. The release of choline increased during reperfusion in a biphasic manner: a first phase peaked immediately after GI and was followed by a second, delayed phase indicating choline release caused during reperfusion. Only the second phase was blocked by both IPC and by AACOCF3 (5 microM), an inhibitor of cytosolic phospholipase A2. The activity of phospholipase D (PLD) was unchanged after GI or IPC or GI plus IPC. In conclusion, choline release into heart perfusate was found to be a useful real-time indicator of phospholipid degradation caused by GI and by reperfusion and its protection by IPC. The results supplement previous observations on the accumulation of fatty acids in the phospholipid pool. There was no evidence for PLD activation by GI or IPC.

Small interfering RNA knockdown of calcium-independent phospholipases A2 beta or gamma inhibits the hormone-induced differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes

Alterations in lipid secondary messenger generation and lipid metabolic flux are essential in promoting the differentiation of adipocytes. To determine whether specific subtypes of intracellular phospholipases A(2) (PLA(2)s) facilitate hormone-induced differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells into adipocytes, we examined alterations in the mRNA level, protein mass, and activity of three previously characterized mammalian intracellular PLA(2)s. Hormone-induced differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells resulted in 7.3 +/- 0.5- and 7.4 +/- 1.4-fold increases of mRNA encoding the calcium-independent phospholipases, iPLA(2)beta and iPLA(2)gamma, respectively. In contrast, the temporally coordinated loss of at least 90% of cPLA(2)alpha mRNA was manifest. Western analysis demonstrated the near absence of both iPLA(2)beta and iPLA(2)gamma protein mass in resting 3T3-L1 cells that increased dramatically during differentiation. In vitro measurement of PLA(2) activities demonstrated an increase in both iPLA(2)beta and iPLA(2)gamma activities that were discriminated using the chiral mechanism based inhibitors (S)- and (R)-BEL, respectively. Remarkably, treatment of 3T3-L1 cells with small interfering RNA directed against either iPLA(2)beta or iPLA(2)gamma prevented hormone-induced differentiation. Moreover, analysis of the temporally programmed expression of transcription factors demonstrated that the small interfering RNA knockdown of iPLA(2)beta or iPLA(2)gamma resulted in down-regulation of the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and the CCAAT enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBPalpha). No alterations in the expression of the early stage transcription factors C/EBPbeta and C/EBPdelta were observed. Collectively, these results demonstrate prominent alterations in intracellular PLA(2)s during 3T3-L1 cell differentiation into adipocytes and identify the requirement of iPLA(2)beta and iPLA(2)gamma for the adipogenic program that drives resting 3T3-L1 cells into adipocytes after hormone stimulation.

Cardiac ischemia activates calcium-independent phospholipase A2beta, precipitating ventricular tachyarrhythmias in transgenic mice: rescue of the lethal electrophysiologic phenotype by mechanism-based inhibition

Murine myocardium contains diminutive amounts of calcium-independent phospholipase A2 (iPLA2) activity (<5% that of human heart), and malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmias are infrequent during acute murine myocardial ischemia. Accordingly we considered the possibility that the mouse was a species-specific knockdown of the human pathologic phenotype of ischemiainduced lethal ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Transgenic mice were generated expressing amounts of iPLA2beta activity comparable to that present in human myocardium. Coronary artery occlusion in Langendorff perfused hearts from transgenic mice resulted in a 22-fold increase in fatty acids released into the venous eluent (29.4 nmol/ml in transgenic versus 1.35 nmol/ml of eluent in wild-type mice), a 4-fold increase in lysophosphatidylcholine mass in ischemic zones (4.9 nmol/mg in transgenic versus 1.1 nmol/mg of protein in wild-type mice), and malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmias within minutes of ischemia. Neither normally perfused transgenic nor ischemic wild-type hearts demonstrated these alterations. Pretreatment of Langendorff perfused transgenic hearts with the iPLA2 mechanism-based inhibitor (E)-6-(bromomethylene)-3-(1-naphthalenyl)-2H-tetrahydropyran-2-one (BEL) just minutes prior to induction of ischemia completely ablated fatty acid release and lysolipid accumulation and rescued transgenic hearts from malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Collectively these results demonstrate that ischemia activates iPLA2beta in intact myocardium and that iPLA2beta-mediated hydrolysis of membrane phospholipids can induce lethal malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmias during acute cardiac ischemia.

Molecular defects in sarcolemmal glycerophospholipid subclasses in diabetic cardiomyopathy

Although still scarcely studied, the phospholipid component of the cell membrane is of absolute importance for cell function. Experimental evidence indicates that individual molecular species of a given phospholipid can influence specific membrane functions. We have examined the changes in molecular species of diacyl and alkenylacyl choline/ethanolamine glycerophospholipid subclasses and those of phosphatidylserine in purified cardiac sarcolemma of healthy and streptozotocin-induced insulin dependent diabetic rats without or with insulin treatment. The relative content of plasmalogens increased in all the phospholipid classes of diabetic sarcolemma under study. Phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were mostly enriched with molecular species containing linoleic acid in sn-2 position and deprived of the molecular species containing arachidonic acid. The molecular species of phosphatidylserine containing either arachidonic or docosahexaenoic acid were less abundant in membranes from diabetic rats than in membranes from controls. Insulin treatment of diabetic rats restored the species profile of phosphatidylethanolamine and overcorrected the changes in molecular species of phosphatidylcholine. The results suggest that the high sarcolemmal level of plasmalogens and the abnormal molecular species of glycerophospholipids may be critical for the membrane dysfunction and defective contractility of the diabetic heart.

The genomic organization, complete mRNA sequence, cloning, and expression of a novel human intracellular membrane-associated calcium-independent phospholipase A(2)

During the sequencing of the long arm of chromosome 7 in the Human Genome Project, a predicted protein product of 40 kDa was identified, which contained two approximately 10-amino acid segments homologous to the ATP and lipase consensus sequences present in the founding members of a family of calcium-independent phospholipases A(2). Detailed inspection of the identified sequence (residues 79, 671-109,912 GenBank accession no. AC005058) demonstrated that it represented only a partial sequence of a larger undefined polypeptide product. Accordingly, we identified the complete genomic organization of this putative phospholipase A(2) through analyses of previously published expressed sequence tags, PCR of human heart cDNA, and 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends. Polymerase chain reaction and Northern blotting demonstrated a 3.4-kilobase message, which encoded a polypeptide with a maximum calculated molecular weight of 88476.9. This 3.4-kilobase message was present in multiple human parenchymal tissues including heart, skeletal muscle, placenta, brain, liver, and pancreas. Cloning and expression of the protein encoded by this message in Sf9 cells resulted in the production of two proteins of apparent molecular masses of 77 and 63 kDa as assessed by Western analyses utilizing immunoaffinity-purified antibody. Membranes from Sf9 cells expressing recombinant protein released fatty acid from sn-2-radiolabeled phosphatidylcholine and plasmenylcholine up to 10-fold more rapidly than controls. The initial rate of fatty acid release from the membrane fraction was 0. 3 nmol/mg.min. The recombinant protein was entirely calcium-independent, had a pH optimum of 8.0, was inhibited by (E)-6-(bromomethylene)-3-(1-naphthalenyl)-2H-tetrahydropyran-2-one (IC(50) = 3 microM), and was predominantly present in the membrane-associated fraction. Collectively, these results describe the genomic organization, complete mRNA sequence, and sn-2-lipase activity of a novel intracellular calcium-independent membrane-associated phospholipase A(2).

Endothelial degradation of extracellular lyso-phosphatidylcholine

Formation of lysophospholipids, including lyso-phosphatidylcholine (lysoPC), is enhanced during oxidation of low-density lipoprotein, in ischaemic tissue and under inflammatory conditions. Besides being potentially cytotoxic, extracellular lysoPC induces changes in several properties of vascular endothelial cells. These include expression of endothelial adhesion molecules and interference with the endothelial production of nitrogen monoxide, prostacyclin and growth factors. One way of controlling the concentration of extracellular lysoPC is by the action of lysophospholipases, which degrade lysoPC into a free fatty acid and glycerophosphocholine. We therefore tested whether vascular endothelial cells have the ability to degrade extracellular lysoPC. Monolayers of primary cultures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells degraded an average of 84+/-24 nmol lysoPC/10(6) cells/2 h. By comparison, monocytes degraded 9.7+/-3.7 nmol lysoPC/10(6) cells/2 h, and erythrocytes and platelets < 1 nmol lysoPC/10(6) cells/2 h. The ability of endothelial cells to degrade extracellular phospholipids (diacylphosphatidyl choline) was found to be relatively low (9.5+/-6.4 nmol/10(6) cells/2 h). Triacylglycerol hydrolase activity was just above detection level. In conclusion, endothelial cells seem to degrade extracellular lysoPC effectively. This endothelial property may be important in controlling plasma and tissue levels of extracellular lysoPC as well as in the interaction between lysoPC and the vascular endothelium.

Plasmalogen-derived lysolipid induces a depolarizing cation current in rabbit ventricular myocytes

Plasmalogen rather than diacyl phospholipids are the preferred substrate for the cardiac phospholipase A2 (PLA2) isoform activated during ischemia. The diacyl metabolite, lysophosphatidylcholine, is arrhythmogenic, but the effects of the plasmalogen metabolite, lysoplasmenylcholine (LPLC), are essentially unknown. We found that 2.5 and 5 micromol/L LPLC induced spontaneous contractions of intact isolated rabbit ventricular myocytes (median times, 27.4 and 16.4 minutes, respectively) significantly faster than lysophosphatidylcholine (>60 and 37.8 minutes, respectively). Whole-cell recordings revealed that LPLC depolarized the resting membrane potential from -83.5+/-0.2 to -21.5+/-1.0 mV. Depolarization was due to a guanidinium toxin-insensitive Na+ influx. The LPLC-induced current reversed at -18.5+/-0.9 mV and was shifted 26.7+/-4.2 mV negative by a 10-fold reduction of bath Na+ (Na+/K+ permeability ratio, approximately 0.12+/-0.06). In contrast, block of Ca2+ channels with Cd2+ and reducing bath Cl failed to affect the current. The actions of LPLC were opposed by lanthanides. Gd3+ and La3+ were equally effective inhibitors of the LPLC-induced current and equally delayed the onset of spontaneous contractions. However, the characteristics of lanthanide block imply that Gd3+-sensitive, poorly selective, stretch-activated channels were not involved. Instead, the data are consistent with the view that lanthanides increase phospholipid ordering and may thereby oppose membrane perturbations caused by LPLC. Plasmalogens constitute a significant fraction of cardiac sarcolemmal choline phospholipids. In light of their subclass-specific catabolism by phospholipase A2 and the present results, it is suggested that LPLC accumulation may contribute to ventricular dysrhythmias during ischemia.

Purification and characterization of a catalytic domain of rat intestinal phospholipase B/lipase associated with brush border membranes

A brush border membrane-associated phospholipase B/lipase was solubilized from the distal two-thirds of rat small intestine by autolysis during storage at -35 degrees C over 1 month, and then the enzyme was purified to homogeneity and characterized enzymatically and structurally. The purified enzyme exhibited broad substrate specificity including esterase, phospholipase A2, lysophospholipase, and lipase activities. SDS-gel electrophoretic and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatographic analyses demonstrated that a single enzyme catalyzes these activities. It preferred hydrolysis at the sn-2 position of diacylphospholipid and diacylglycerol without strict stereoselectivity, whereas it apparently exhibited no positional specificity toward triacylglycerol. Diisopropyl fluorophosphate, an irreversible inhibitor of serine esterases and lipases inhibited purified enzyme. When the position of enzyme on SDS-gel electrophoresis under the non-reducing conditions was determined by assaying the activity eluted from sliced gels, brush border membrane-associated enzyme corresponded to a approximately 150-kDa protein; autolysis gave a 35-kDa product, in agreement with the results of immunoblot analysis. The purified 35-kDa enzyme consisted of a 14-kDa peptide and a glycosylated 21-kDa peptide. Their NH2-terminal amino acid sequences were determined and found in the second repeat of 161-kDa phospholipase B/lipase with 4-fold tandem repeats of approximately 38 kDa each, which we cloned and sequenced in the accompanying paper (Takemori, H., Zolotaryov, F., Ting, L., Urbain, T., Komatsubara, T., Hatano, O., Okamoto, M., and Tojo, H. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 2222-2231). These results indicate that the purified enzyme is the catalytic domain derived from the second repeat of brush border membrane-associated phospholipase B/lipase.

Modification of heart sarcolemmal phosphoinositide pathway by lysophosphatidylcholine

Although lysophosphatidylcholine (lyso-PtdCho) accumulates in the sarcolemmal (SL) membrane and alters its function during myocardial ischemia and diabetic cardiomyopathy, the effects of lyso-PtdCho on SL signalling processes have not yet been investigated. The present study was carried out to examine the actions of lyso-PtdCho on the rat heart SL membrane enzymes involved in the phosphoinositide pathway. Different lyso-PtdCho species (10 to 200 microM) inhibited the activities of both phosphatidylinositol kinase and phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate kinase in the SL membrane in a concentration-dependent manner. The inhibitory potency of lyso-PtdCho compounds for phosphatidylinositol kinase was lyso-PtdCho plasmalogen > 1-oleoyl-lyso-PtdCho > 1-stearoyl-lyso-PtdCho > 1-palmitoyl-lyso-PtdCho, and that for phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate kinase was lyso-PtdCho plasmalogen > 1-oleoyl-lyso-PtdCho > 1-palmitoyl-lyso-PtdCho > 1-stearoyl-lyso-PtdCho. The inhibitory effect of lyso-PtdCho on phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate kinase was greater than that on phosphatidylinositol kinase. Lyso-PtdCho structural analogues, such as phosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidic acid, lysophosphatidylethanolamine, L-alpha-glycerophosphate, oleate and phosphorylcholine, did not affect the phosphoinositide kinases, suggesting that the intact structure of lyso-PtdCho was required for the inhibition of the kinases. The detrimental action of lyso-PtdCho on PtdIns kinase was potentiated by acidosis. Unlike Ca2+, ATP (0.1 and 4 mM) increased lyso-PtdCho-induced deactivation of the kinases. Both enzyme activities were found to be depressed in the ischemic-reperfused or diabetic hearts. None of the tested lyso-PtdCho species altered phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) hydrolysis by SL phospholipase C. These results indicate that accumulation of lyso-PtdCho in the SL membrane under pathological conditions may diminish the availability of the PtdIns(4,5)P2 substrate for the production of second messengers by receptor-linked phospholipase C.

Mepacrine protects the isolated rat heart during hypoxia and reoxygenation--but not by inhibition of phospholipase A2

Mepacrine (quinacrine) has in a number of studies been shown to protect the heart from ischemic injury, a protection commonly claimed to be due to inhibition of phospholipase A2. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of mepacrine 1 microM on isolated, buffer perfused rat hearts subjected to 60 min hypoxia and 30 min reoxygenation. We also wanted to clarify whether any cardioprotective effect was due to inhibition of phospholipase A2 or to other effects of the drug. Mepacrine led to a substantial fall in left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and coronary flow (CF) during normoxic perfusion. Treated hearts showed less increase in LVEDP and less fall in LVDP during the hypoxic period, and significantly fewer hearts stopped beating compared to untreated controls. Release of CK during hypoxia and reoxygenation was reduced in treated hearts compared to controls (19.9 +/- 3.8 vs. 73.1 +/- 13.3 IU, p < 0.05). Lipid analyses of the myocardium showed a significant increase in the total amount of non esterified fatty acids (NEFA) in both untreated and mepacrine treated hypoxic hearts compared to normoxic controls, but to a significantly lower level in the mepacrine treated hearts. However, contribution of polyunsaturated NEFAs to total NEFAs did not differ between the groups. Also, neither total amount of fatty acids nor amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids obtained from the 2-position of the phospholipid fraction differed between the treated and untreated groups. In an enzyme assay, mepacrine 1 microM did not inhibit phospholipase A2 activity. We conclude that in our model mepacrine protects the heart from hypoxic injury, but probably by another mechanism than inhibition of phospholipase A2 induced membrane damage.

Interleukin-1beta stimulates phospholipase A2 activity in adult rat ventricular myocytes

We have examined whether interleukin (IL)-1beta modulates phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activity in ventricular myocytes. PLA2 activity was measured in isolated membrane and cytosol fractions with (16:0,[3H]18:1) plasmenylcholine and (16:0,[3H]18:1) phosphatidylcholine in the absence and presence of Ca2+. When measured in the absence of Ca2+ with plasmenylcholine, exposure to 5 ng/ml IL-1beta caused an increase in membrane-associated PLA2 activity for 10 min that returned to basal levels by 20 min. In the presence of Ca2+ with phosphatidylcholine, IL-1beta had no effect on membrane-associated PLA2 but decreased cytosolic PLA2 activity. Additionally, IL-1beta caused an increase in arachidonic acid release in 20 min. Pretreatment with E-6-(bromomethylene)tetrahydro-3-(1-naphthalenyl)-2H-pyran-2-one, a selective Ca2+-independent PLA2 inhibitor, blocked IL-1beta-induced increases in both PLA2 activity and arachidonic acid release. Exposure to IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) alone had no effect on membrane-associated PLA2 activity. When incubated with IL-1beta, IL-1RA inhibited the IL-1beta-enhanced PLA2 activity. These results show that, via activation of its receptors, IL-1beta stimulates specifically membrane-associated Ca2+-independent plasmalogen-selective PLA2 in rat ventricular myocytes.

Prostacyclin formation elicited by endothelin-1 in rat aorta is mediated via phospholipase D activation and not phospholipase C or A2

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictor peptide that also stimulates production of prostacyclin (PGI2) from arachidonic acid. The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of phospholipases (PLs) A2, C, and/or D in ET-1-induced PGI2 formation in the rat aorta, measured as immunoreactive 6-ketoprostaglandin (PG) F1 alpha. ET-1 increased 6-keto-PGF1 alpha formation, which was not affected by a PLA2 inhibitor, 7,7-dimethyl eicosadienoic acid (DEDA). Furthermore, ET-1 failed to stimulate PLA2 activity measured in the cytosol (cPLA2), using phosphatidylcholine, L-a-1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonyl[14C] as a substrate. However, the adrenergic agonist norepinephrine increased 6-keto-PGF1 alpha formation, which was attenuated by DEDA, and enhanced PLA2 activity. ET-1 enhanced PLC activity, as indicated by increased inositol phosphate production, which was prevented by a PLC inhibitor, U-73122. However, ET-1-induced 6-keto-PGF1 alpha production was not altered by U-73122. An inhibitor of PLD activation, C2-ceramide, attenuated ET-1-induced PLD activity, as indicated by the production of phosphatidylethanol. Furthermore, ET-1-induced 6-keto-PGF1 alpha formation was inhibited by C2-ceramide as well as by ethanol treatment. Moreover, inhibitors of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase (propranolol) and diacylglycerol lipase (RHC-80267), attenuated ET-1-induced 6-keto-PGF1 alpha formation. Finally, ET-1-induced activation of PLD was not attenuated by a selective PKC inhibitor, bisindolylmaleimide I. These data suggest a novel pathway for ET-1-induced PGI2 formation in the rat aorta involving activation of PLD but not cPLA2 and independent of PLC or PKC activation.

Reduced infarct size in the rabbit heart in vivo by ethylisopropyl-amiloride. A role for Na+/H+ exchange

Inhibition of Na+/H+ exchange with amiloride analogues has been shown to offer functional protection during ischemia and reperfusion and reduce infarct size in isolated rat hearts and intact pigs. The aim of the present study was to examine if pre- or postischemic treatment with ethylisopropylamiloride (EIPA), a selective Na+/H+ exchange inhibitor, could reduce infarct size in an in situ rabbit model of regional ischemia and reperfusion. Anesthetized, open-chest rabbits were subjected to 30 min of regional ischemia and 180 min of reperfusion. The risk zone was determined by fluorescent particles, and infarct size was determined by TTC staining. Preischemic treatment with EIPA (0.65 mg/kg) significantly reduced infarct size from 45.8 +/- 3.5% of the risk zone in the control group to 10.6 +/- 3.1% (p < 0.01). EIPA-treatment during the first part of the reperfusion period did not reduce infarct size compared to controls (41.9 +/- 3.5%). We conclude that EIPA, when administered prior to ischemia, reduces infarct size in the rabbit heart of in situ, a protection most likely due to inhibition of Na+/H+ exchange.

Reactive glia express cytosolic phospholipase A2 after transient global forebrain ischemia in the rat

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Phospholipid breakdown has been reported to be an early event in the brain after global cerebral ischemia. Our earlier observations showing the localization of cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) to astrocytes in aged human brains and the intense glial activation observed after global forebrain ischemia prompted us to investigate the cellular localization of cPLA2 in the rat brain subjected to global ischemia.

METHODS

Immunohistochemistry was performed in sections through the dorsal hippocampus in rats subjected to 30 minutes of four- vessel occlusion. PLA2 was localized with the use of a highly selective antiserum. Double immunofluorescent localization was performed to colocalize cPLA2 with various glial cell types. cPLA2 levels were also measured by enzymatic assay and Western blot analysis.

RESULTS

A marked induction of cPLA2 was observed in activated microglia and astrocytes in the CA1 hippocampal region at 72 hours after ischemia. Only a subset of astrocytes and microglia were immunoreactive for cPLA2. Twenty-four hours after ischemia, numerous cPLA2 immunoreactive astrocytes were observed. Western blot analysis of hippocampal homogenates at 72 hours after ischemia showed induction of a 100-kD band that comigrated with purified human cPLA2, and a threefold induction in cPLA2 activity was demonstrated by enzymatic assay.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that both reactive astrocytes and microglia contain elevated levels of cPLA2. Induction of cPLA2 was confined to areas of neurodegeneration and likely precedes its onset. The results suggest that reactive glia may play a role in the pathophysiology of delayed neuronal death after transient global forebrain ischemia.

Plasmalogens, phospholipases A2 and signal transduction

Several lines of evidence indicate that the breakdown of plasmalogens in neural membranes during neurodegenerative diseases is a receptor-mediated process catalyzed by a plasmalogen-selective phospholipase A2. This enzyme has recently been purified from bovine brain. It does not require Ca2+ and is localized in cytosol. It has a molecular mass of 39 kDa and is strongly inhibited by glycosaminoglycans, with the pattern of inhibition being heparan sulfate > hyaluronic acid > chondroitin sulfate > heparin. This plasmalogen-selective phospholipase A2 is also inhibited by gangliosides and sialoglycoproteins. Substrate specificity and the effects of metal ions, detergents and inhibitors suggest that this phospholipase A2 is different from the well-known 85 kDa Ca(2+)-dependent cytosolic phospholipase A2 that has recently been cloned and is not plasmalogen-selective. The plasmalogen-selective phospholipase A2 may be regulated by glycosaminoglycans and sialoglycoconjugates and may be involved in the regulation of K+ channels. This enzyme, which plays a major role in the release of fatty acids during ischemic injury and reperfusion, shows promise as a major target for drug therapy.

Calcium-sensitive cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) is expressed in human brain astrocytes

Calcium-sensitive cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) is responsible for receptor-mediated liberation of arachidonic acid, and thus plays an important role in the initiation of the inflammatory lipid-mediator cascade generating eicosanoids and platelet-activating factor. In this study we have investigated the cellular distribution of cPLA2 in brain using a monoclonal antibody raised against cPLA2 to immunostain tissue sections of human cerebral cortex. We have localized cPLA2 in astrocytes of the gray matter. Colocalization with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) confirmed that cPLA2 is associated predominantly with protoplasmic astrocytes. Astrocytes of the white matter, on the other hand, were not immunoreactive. In experiments using different human astrocytoma cell lines we found that cPLA2 can be immunochemically localized in UC-11 MG cells, but cannot be detected in U-373 MG cells. This finding is consistent with the observation that cPLA2 mRNA as well as cPLA2 enzymatic activity can be readily measured in UC-11 MG astrocytoma cells, yet cannot be detected in U-373 MG cells. Our data suggest that the astrocyte is a primary source of cPLA2 in the brain and provide further evidence for the importance of this cell type in inflammatory processes in the brain.

Processive interfacial catalysis by mammalian 85-kilodalton phospholipase A2 enzymes on product-containing vesicles: application to the determination of substrate preferences

Substrate specificities of the human and rat kidney 85-kDa phospholipase A2 enzymes (hmw-PLA2) have been determined under conditions in which hydrolysis of substrate vesicles occurs without the desorption of enzyme from the interface (scooting mode catalysis). The rat kidney enzyme binds to vesicles of 1-oleoyl-2-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (OPPC), which contain the substrate 1-stearoyl-2-arachidonyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (SAPC) and 10 mol% arachidonic acid (20:4) and 1-stearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (S-lyso-PC) as the hydrolysis reaction products, with a second-order rate constant k(on) approximately equal to 2 x 10(7) M-1 s-1. Upper limits of k(off) < or = 3 x 10(-4) s-1 and KD < = or 15 pM for the dissociation rate and equilibrium constants, respectively, are estimated from the vesicle binding measurements. The initial rates of hydrolysis of either radiolabeled 1-stearoyl-2-arachidonyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoserine (3H-SAPS), -phosphoethanolamine (3H-SAPE), -phosphoinositol (14C-SAPI), or -phosphate (3H-SAPA) and either 3H-SAPC or 14C-SAPC, which were incorporated into product-containing OPPC vesicles, were simultaneously measured with dual isotope radiometric assays. The plasmenylcholine 1-O-(Z-hexadec-1'-enyl)-2-arachidonyl-sn-glycero-3- phosphocholine (3H-PlasAPC) was also tested. Relative substrate specificity constants (Kcat/KM* values) were determined from the concentrations and initial rates of hydrolysis of the labeled substrates; the rank order of the values is SAPC approximately equal to SAPI approximately equal to PlasAPC > SAPE > SAPA approximately equal to SAPS. The maximal difference in specificity constants is 3.5-fold, indicating that the hmw-PLA2 does not significantly discriminate between phospholipids with different polar head groups. The diglyceride 1-stearoyl-2-arachidonyl-sn-glycerol is not a substrate for the human hmw-PLA2. Two mixtures of 1-stearoyl-2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, which have different sn-2 acyl chains, were prepared and compared to SAPC as substrates. One mixture contained naturally-occurring unsaturated fatty acyl chains and the other contained a mixture of 20:4, all of its partially hydrogenated analogues (20:3, 20:2, and 20:1), and arachidic acid (20:0). The order of preference for the human hmw-PLA2 is sn-2-20:4 > sn-2-alpha-linolenoyl > sn-2-linoleoyl > sn-2-oleoyl > or = sn-2-palmitoyleoyl.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Recent insights pertaining to sarcolemmal phospholipid alterations underlying arrhythmogenesis in the ischemic heart

Myocardial ischemia in vivo is associated with dramatic electrophysiologic alterations that occur within minutes of cessation of coronary flow and are rapidly reversible with reperfusion. This suggests that subtle and reversible biochemical alterations within or near the sarcolemma may contribute to the electrophysiologic derangements. Our studies have concentrated on two amphipathic metabolites, long-chain acylcarnitines and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), which have been shown to increase rapidly in ischemic tissue in vivo and to elicit electrophysiologic derangements in normoxic tissue in vitro. Incorporation of these amphiphiles into the sarcolemma at concentrations of 1 to 2 mole%, elicits profound electrophysiologic derangements analogous to those observed in ischemic myocardium in vivo. The pathophysiological effects of the accumulation of these amphiphiles are thought to be mediated by alterations in the biophysical properties of the sarcolemmal membrane, although there is a possibility of a direct effect upon ion channels. Inhibition of carnitine acyltransferase I (CAT-I) in the ischemic cat heart was found to prevent the increase in long-chain acylcarnitines and LPC and to significantly reduce the incidence of malignant arrhythmias including ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation. This review focuses on the electrophysiologic derangements that are observed during early ischemia and presents data supporting the concept that accumulation of these amphiphiles within the sarcolemma contributes to these changes. The potential contribution of these amphiphiles to the increases in extracellular potassium and intracellular calcium are examined. Finally, recent data pertaining to the accumulation of long-chain acylcarnitines on cell-to-cell uncoupling are presented. In addition to the events reviewed here, there are many other alterations that occur during early myocardial ischemia, but the results from multiple studies over the past two decades indicate that the accumulation of these amphiphiles contributes importantly to arrhythmogenesis and that development of specific inhibitors of CAT-I or phospholipase A2 may be a promising therapeutic strategy to attenuate the incidence of lethal arrhythmias associated with ischemic heart disease in man.

Mechanical stimulation of skeletal muscle generates lipid-related second messengers by phospholipase activation

Repetitive mechanical stimulation of cultured avian skeletal muscle increases the synthesis of prostaglandins (PG) E2 and F2 alpha which regulate protein turnover rates and muscle cell growth. These stretch-induced PG increases are reduced in low extracellular calcium medium and by specific phospholipase inhibitors. Mechanical stimulation increases the breakdown rate of 3H-arachidonic acid labelled phospholipids, releasing free 3H-arachidonic acid, the rate-limiting precursor of PG synthesis. Mechanical stimulation also increases 3H-arachidonic acid labelled diacylglycerol formation and intracellular levels of inositol phosphates from myo-[2-3H]inositol labelled phospholipids. Phospholipase A2 (PLA2), phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PLC), and phospholipase D (PLD) are all activated by stretch. The stretch-induced increases in PG production, 3H-arachidonic acid labelled phospholipid breakdown, and 3H-arachidonic acid labelled diacylglycerol formation occur independently of cellular electrical activity (tetrodotoxin insensitive) whereas the formation of inositol phosphates from myo-[2-3H]inositol labelled phospholipids is dependent on cellular electrical activity. These results indicate that mechanical stimulation increases the lipid-related second messengers arachidonic acid, diacylglycerol, and PG through activation of specific phospholipases such as PLA2 and PLD, but not by activation of phosphatidylinositol-specific PLC.