Epidermal-growth-factor-induced production of phosphatidylalcohols by HeLa cells and A431 cells through activation of phospholipase D

Abstract

In response to epidermal growth factor (EGF). HeLa cells and A431 cells rapidly accumulate substantial amounts of phosphatidic acid (up to 0.16 and 0.2 μg/106 cells respectively), which represents approx. 0.17% of total phospholipid. Phosphatidic acid may be a potential product of diacylglycerol kinase and/or of phospholipase D. To evaluate the contribution of phospholipase D, the phosphatidyl-transfer reaction to a primary alcohol (mostly butan-1-ol; 0.2%) was measured; this reaction is known to be mediated exclusively by phospholipase D in intact cells. In HeLa and in A431 cells prelabelled with [1-14C]oleic acid, EGF (10 and 100 nM respectively) caused a 3-fold increase in radioactive phosphatidylbutanol within 5 min at the expense of labelled phosphatidic acid. Dose-response relationships showed 10 nM- and 100 nM-EGF to be maximally effective in HeLa cells and A431 cells respectively. Mass determinations showed than the phosphatidylbutanol formed within 5 min represented only part of the phosphatidic acid. Depletion of protein kinase C by pretreatment of A431 cells for 17 h with the phorbol ester phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (0.1 μM) did not impair EGF-induced formation of phosphatidylbutanol, thus indicating that the reaction was independent of this enzyme. Since phosphatidic acid is suggested to exert second-messenger functions as well as to induce biophysical changes in cellular membranes, its formation, including that via the phospholipase D pathway, may represent an important link between extracellular signals and intracellular targets.