Histamine release induced by histone and phorbol ester from rat peritoneal mast cells

Histone 10 to 50 micrograms/ml released histamine from rat peritoneal mast cells in the absence of extracellular calcium. Extracellular calcium, 1 mM produced a slight shift of the histone dose-response curve to the right. In the absence of extracellular calcium, the histamine release-response to combined stimulation with histone and substance P was saturable. Neither histone nor substance P elicited any further response when one of these agonists alone was already eliciting a maximum response, although the cells were capable of a greater degree of histamine release in the presence of compound 48/80. In the presence of extracellular calcium, substance P at a concentration not by itself producing a response, acted synergistically with histone to induce histamine release. The substance P antagonist, SP-A, inhibited histamine release by histone. The phorbol ester, TPA, released histamine in a dose-dependent manner and this response was inhibited by SP-A. It is suggested that substance P and histone interact with a common site to release histamine and the role of protein kinase C in this release mechanism is discussed.