Phospholipase A2 and arachidonic acid release from permeabilised myometrial cells from guinea pig uterus

The release of arachidonic acid and inositol polyphosphates from permeabilised myocytes derived from guinea pig uterus has been studied. Both are enhanced by free calcium at 100 nM and 10 microM and particularly by 50 microM GTP gamma S. To distinguish between the contributions of phospholipase C and A2 to the release of arachidonic acid the phospholipase C inhibitor neomycin was used. At 1 and 10 mM, but not at 0.1 mM, neomycin caused effective inhibition of inositol polyphosphate release of over 95%. Neomycin (1 mM) also reversed GTP gamma S-stimulated, but not calcium-stimulated release of arachidonic acid. This action was reflected in changes in [3H]arachidonic acid labelling of the membrane phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine pools, which were depressed by over 20% on the addition of 50 microM GTP gamma S, an effect completely reversed by 1 mM neomycin. The effects of neomycin were much more pronounced on inositol phosphate than on arachidonic acid release. The ability of 1 mM neomycin to inhibit arachidonic acid release was reversed by addition of 1 microM phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, implying a role for protein kinase C activation in stimulation of arachidonic acid release. Measurement of phospholipase A2 activity with 1-stearoyl 2-arachidonoyl phosphatidylcholine as exogenous substrate demonstrated the ability of 1 and 10 mM neomycin to inhibit the enzyme particularly when it was maximally activated with 1 mM free calcium.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)