Manganese stimulates the incorporation of [3H]inositol into a pool of phosphatidylinositol in brain that is not coupled to agonist-induced hydrolysis.

Mn2+ greatly increases the incorporation of myo-[3H]inositol into phosphatidylinositol (PI) of brain and other tissues by stimulating the activity of a PI-myo-inositol exchange enzyme. This study examined the ability of norepinephrine (NE) and carbachol to stimulate the hydrolysis of [3H]PI formed in the absence and presence of Mn2+-stimulated [3H]inositol exchange. Rat cerebral cortical slices were incubated with myo-[3H]inositol for 60 min in an N-2-hydroxyethyl piperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid (HEPES) buffer without or with MnCl2 (1 mM). The tissue was washed and further incubated with unlabeled myo-inositol and LiCl (10 mM). Prelabeled slices were then incubated with NE (0.1 mM) or carbachol (1 mM) to induce agonist-stimulated [3H]PI hydrolysis. Mn2+ treatment resulted in eight- and sixfold increases in control levels of [3H]PI and [3H]inositol monophosphate [( 3H]IP), respectively. Both NE and carbachol stimulated [3H]IP formation in tissue prelabeled without or with manganese. However, the degree of stimulation (percentage of control values) was greatly attenuated in the presence of Mn2+. In the absence of Mn2+ treatment, NE decreased [3H]PI radioactivity in the tissue to 80% of control values. However, NE did not decrease [3H]PI radioactivity in the Mn2+-treated tissue. These data demonstrate that Mn2+ stimulates incorporation of myo-[3H]inositol into a pool of PI in brain that has a rapid turnover but is not coupled to agonist-induced hydrolysis.