Human cardiac phospholipase D activity is tightly controlled by phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate

Phospholipase D (PLD) plays a central role in receptor-mediated breakdown of choline phospholipids and formation of phosphatidic acid (PA), an important regulator of cardiac function. However, specific mechanisms that regulate myocardial PLD activity remain largely unknown, particularly in the human heart. We hypothesized that phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), best known as substrate for phospholipase C (PLC) isozymes, plays a critical role in regulating myocardial PLD activity. We examined the effect of PIP2 on human myocardial PLD activity in vitro by utilizing a fluorescence HPLC assay. PIP2 increased 10-fold the maximal activity of a partially solubilized PLD from human atrial myocardium. PIP2-stimulated PLD activity was accompanied by a consecutive increase in diacylglycerol, indicating dephosphorylation of PA by PA phosphohydrolase. Likewise, phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate, which is produced from PIP2 by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, increased PLD activity with about the same potency but with somewhat lower efficacy. In contrast, other phospholipids were ineffective, indicating that the action of PIP2 on PLD is highly specific. Neomycin, a high-affinity ligand of PIP2, inhibited PLD activity in human atrial myocardium, but had no effect on the activity of partially solubilized enzyme. The addition of PIP2 restored the sensitivity of solubilized PLD to neomycin inhibition, indicating that neomycin inhibits PLD activity by binding to endogenous PIP2. Our results demonstrate a critical role for PIP2 in human cardiac PLD activity and suggest that PIP2 synthesis (by phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase) and hydrolysis (by PIP2-specific PLC) could be important determinants in regulating PLD signal transduction in the human heart.