Generation of phosphatidic acid during calcium‐loading of human erythrocytes

Abstract

We have studied the mechanism by which calcium-loading of human erythrocytes stimulates phospholipid turnover and generates diacylglycerol and phosphatidic acid. Using quantitative measurement of individual phospholipid classes, we have demonstrated that the amount of phosphatidic acid generated during calcium-loading of intact red cells exceeds the amount of diacylglycerol formed by phospholipase-C-mediated hydrolysis of the polyphosphoinositol lipids and that addition of the diacylglycerol kinase inhibitor, R59022, only partly inhibited this increase. Thus, in contrast to current explanations, the phosphatidic acid generated following calcium-loading of erythrocytes cannot be solely explained by the action of a polyphosphoinositol-lipid-specific phospholipase C with subsequent phosphorylation of diacylglycerol to phosphatidic acid. Our data demonstrate that calcium-loading of intact erythrocytes, but not of red cell ghost membranes, causes a small but significant decrease in the relative amount of phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho). In order to identify the mechanisms responsible for calcium-mediated hydrolysis of PtdCho, we encapsulated Ptd[Me-14C]Cho-containing rat liver microsomes into erythrocytes and studied the generation of [Me-14C]choline and phospho[Me-14C]choline. We found that choline was the only detectable 14C-labeled product. Furthermore, incubation of erythrocytes with calcium under hypotonic conditions and in the presence of [14C]PtdCho vesicles and ethanol resulted in the formation of [14C]phosphatidylethanol. Together, these results suggest that the loss of PtdCho during calcium-loading of human erythrocytes is caused by a previously unrecognized PtdCho-hydrolyzing phospholipase D, resulting in direct generation of phosphatidic acid. Analysis of the molecular species composition of PtdCho, phosphatidic acid, and diradylglycerol, confirm the simultaneous actions of PtdCho-hydrolyzing and polyphosphoinositol-lipid-hydrolyzing phospholipases in calcium-loaded human erythrocytes.