Directed shift of fatty acids from phospholipids to triacylglycerols in HL-60 cells induced by nanomolar concentrations of triethyl lead chloride: involvement of a pertussis toxin-sensitive pathway

Triethyl lead chloride (Et3PbCl) was found to induce a shift of fatty acids from membrane phospholipids to triacylglycerols in the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60. High concentrations of Et3PbCl (greater than 10 microM) caused a substantial liberation of [14C]arachidonic acid within 10 to 20 min in dimethyl sulfoxide-differentiated cells, comparable to the effect of the calcium ionophore A23187 (10 microM). Following liberation of arachidonic acid, its metabolites could be detected. Prolongation of the incubation time and reduction of Et3PbCl concentration resulted in a shift of fatty acids from phospholipids to triacylglycerols. Deacylation of phospholipids and reacylation into phospholipids and triacylglycerols were in equilibrium when the cells were treated with Et3PbCl at concentrations of less than or equal to 10 microM for 5 hr or less than or equal to 1 microM for 24 hr; no increase of free fatty acids could be observed, and the loss of fatty acids within the phospholipids was equivalent to the increase of fatty acid content within the triacylglycerols. Moreover, under these conditions, no loss of viability was seen after 24 hr, as compared with untreated differentiated cells. This concentration- and time-dependent effect of Et3PbCl might be due to a stimulated liberation of fatty acids via phospholipase A2, because this stimulation could be totally prevented by the phospholipase inhibitors quinacrine and p-bromophenacylbromide. Additionally, pretreatment of differentiated HL-60 cells with pertussis toxin resulted in a drastic reduction of [14C]arachidonic acid liberation when cells were stimulated with Et3PbCl. These results suggest the involvement of a pertussis toxin-sensitive GTP-binding protein and of a signal transduction mechanism during stimulated fatty acid release; release does not seem to be via a direct stimulation of phospholipase activity by the lead compound.

Identification of transferrin as the principal plutonium-binding protein in the blood serum and liver cytosol of rats: immunological and chromatographic studies

An analysis of 239Pu-labelled protein complexes in serum and liver cytosol fractions prepared from rats injected intravenously with 239Pu-citrate indicated that among the possible metal-binding proteins, ferritin, transferrin and metallothionein, 239Pu was bound almost exclusively to transferrin. The method employed for the quantitative determination of 239Pu-transferrin was chromatography on immobilized rabbit anti-rat apo-transferrin. There was no evidence that transferrins from serum and liver cytosol are serologically different. The residual blood content of perfused and non-perfused liver was measured using 51Cr-labelled red blood cells and the amounts of blood-derived 239Pu and 239Pu-transferrin in the liver cytosol were calculated. The results are discussed with respect to the possible role of transferrin in the uptake of Pu into cells.