IL-1 increases phospholipase A2 activity, expression of phospholipase A2-activating protein, and release of linoleic acid from the murine T helper cell line EL-4.

The early events in IL-1-mediated activation of T cells were investigated in the murine T cell line, EL-4. Treatment of EL-4 cells with human rIL-1 beta resulted in a rapid increase in phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activity. PLA2 activity increased approximately fivefold within 4 min after exposure to IL-1. Synthesis of the phospholipase A2- activating protein (PLAP) and its mRNA were also increased within 4 min of IL-1 treatment and preceded the increase in PLA2 enzyme activity. The increases in PLA2 activity and PLAP protein and mRNA levels were all transient and declined to baseline within 10 min after the addition of IL-1. The changes in levels of PLAP as a function of time after IL-1 treatment were consistent with PLAP playing an important role in the regulation of PLA2 activity in this system. The consequence of the elevated PLA2 activity was examined by analysis of the fatty acids released from IL-1-treated cells. There was a 20-fold increase in the release of radioactivity from [14C]-linoleic acid labeled cells whereas there was very little change in the release of radioactivity from [14C]-arachidonic acid labeled cells in response to the addition of IL-1. The radioactivity released from [14C]-linoleic acid labeled cells was analyzed by HPLC; no conversion of radiolabeled linoleic into arachidonic acid was observed. In EL-4 cells, IL-1 potentiates PMA-mediated release of IL-2 at suboptimal concentrations of PMA. Linoleic acid also augmented PMA-induced IL-2 release from the EL-4 cells. This fatty acid was more than 10 times more effective than arachidonic acid in this regard. Furthermore, the addition of exogenous PLAP to EL-4 cells could substitute for IL-1 in the stimulation of IL-2 release. These results suggest that the IL-1 effects on T cells may be mediated at least in part through increased PLA2 activity due to increased synthesis of PLAP. Furthermore, the release of the unsaturated fatty acid linoleic acid or its metabolites may be of functional importance in IL-1-mediated IL-2 production by EL-4 cells.