Lysophosphatidic acid synthesis and phospholipid metabolism in rat mast cells

The role of lysophosphatidic acid in mast cell response to antigen was investigated using an isolated rat serosal mast cell model. The cells were incubated with monoclonal murine immunoglobulin E to the dinitrophenyl hapten and prelabeled with 32P-orthophosphate or 3H-fatty acids. Lysophosphatidic acid was isolated form cell extracts by 2-dimensional thin-layer chromatography, and the incorporated radioactivity was assessed by liquid scintillation counting. Lysophosphatidic acid labeling with 32P was increased 2-4 fold within 5 minutes after the addition of antigen or three other mast cell agonists. Functional group analyses unequivocally showed that the labeled compound was lysophosphatidic acid. Lysophosphatidic acid synthesis was dependent on the activity of diacylglycerol lipase, suggesting formation from monoacylglycerol. In addition, the studies of lysophosphatidic acid synthesis suggest that the addition of antigen to mast cells may initiate more than one route of phospholipid degradation and resynthesis. Whatever the origin of lysophosphatidic acid, the results of this study demonstrated that lysophosphatidic acid synthesis is stimulated by a variety of mast cell agonists. Dose-response, kinetic, and pharmacologic studies showed close concordance between histamine release and lysophosphatidic acid labeling responses. These observations provide strong evidence that lysophosphatidic acid plays an important role in mast cell activation