Cleavage of a rat serosal mast cell membrane component during degranulation mediated by chymase, a secretory granule protease.

Exogenous addition of purified chymase, a rat serosal mast cell (RSMC) chymotryptic enzyme, results in RSMC degranulation at 37 degrees, but not at 1 degree. Chymase can cause an active site-dependent inducing event at 1 degree such that RSMC degranulation occurs if the cells are later incubated at 37 degrees. RSMC exposed to chymase or other stimuli were surface radiolabelled using 125I and Iodo-Gen, solubilized with 1% Nonidet-40, and the resulting 25,000 g supernatants analysed by SDS-PAGE and autoradiography. A 125I-labelled RSMC membrane protein of approximate 90,000 MW decreased upon exposure to either chymase or alpha-chymotrypsin (alpha-CT) for 5 min at 37 degrees or to chymase for 60 min at 1 degree. Exposure of RSMC to the secretagogues ionophore A23187, compound 48/80, and anti-IgE for 5 min at 37 degrees resulted in beta-hexosaminidase (a secretory granule enzyme) release, but did not cause a detectable change in the 90,000 MW surface-labelled protein. Lima bean trypsin inhibitor, which inhibits both the esterase and RSMC degranulation activities of chymase and alpha-CT, prevented the disappearance of the 125I-labelled 90,000 MW band when added with chymase or alpha-CT. Exposure of RSMC to chymase at 1 degree for 0-10 min, prior to addition of LBTI, led to a progressive disappearance of the 90,000 MW band, which corresponded to the kinetics of priming for subsequent RSMC degranulation at 37 degrees. When RSMC were exposed to trypsin (2.5 micrograms/ml) for 0-120 min at 1 degree, a progressive disappearance of the 90,000 MW band occurred, in association with a loss of sensitivity to subsequent activation by chymase at 37 degrees. The disappearance of the 90,000 MW determinant in association with chymase-mediated priming for degranulation and the inability of chymase to mediate degranulation of trypsin-treated RSMC, which lack this membrane protein, suggests that it is involved in chymase-mediated RSMC degranulation.