Increased activity of oleate-dependent type phospholipase D during actinomycin D-induced apoptosis in Jurkat T cells

Apoptosis is an active form of cell death that can be induced by a wide variety of agents and conditions. In response to actinomycin D, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), or TNF-alpha, Jurkat T cells underwent typical apoptosis. Phospholipase D (PLD) activity in intact cells determined by phosphatidylbutanol generation was up-regulated by these agents. The PLD activation was in a time-dependent manner during apoptosis. It was also shown that the PLD activity measured by using exogenous substrate in the lysate from apoptotic cells was higher than that in the lysate from control untreated cells. The PLD activity in lysate from control untreated cells was stimulated by unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), but not by guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate). However, the PLD activity in the apoptotic cell lysate was no longer enhanced by the addition of oleate, suggesting that the increased PLD activity during apoptosis was attributed to the PLD of UFA-dependent type, but not the small G protein-dependent one. In fact, the release of free UFA was increased during apoptosis. The caspase inhibitors, z-DEVD and z-VAD, effectively suppressed PLD activation and apoptosis, but UFA release was unaffected. These results suggest the possibility that UFA-dependent type PLD may be implicated in apoptotic process in Jurkat T cells. This is the first demonstration that the PLD of UFA-dependent type would be involved in cellular responses.