Platelet activation by simultaneous actions of diacylglycerol and unsaturated fatty acids.

Several cis-unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic, linoleic, linolenic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids added directly to intact human platelets greatly enhance protein kinase C activation as judged by the phosphorylation of its specific endogenous substrate, a 47-kDa protein. This enhancement absolutely requires the presence of a membrane-permeant diacylglycerol, 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol, or a tumor-promoting phorbol ester, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. In the presence of ionomycin and either 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, the release of serotonin from the platelets is also remarkably increased by cis-unsaturated fatty acids. The effect of these fatty acids is observed at concentrations less than 50 microM. Saturated fatty acids and trans-unsaturated fatty acids are inactive. Titration of ionomycin to induce a release reaction and measurement of the intracellular Ca2+ level by the fura-2 procedure indicate that cis-unsaturated fatty acids increase an apparent sensitivity of the platelet response to Ca2+. The results suggest that cis-unsaturated fatty acids, which are presumably produced from phosphatidylcholine by signal-dependent activation of phospholipase A2, may take part directly in cell signaling through the protein kinase C pathway.