The interaction of calcium and strontium with phosphatidyl serine in the anaphylactic secretion of histamine.

1. Spontaneous histamine release from isolated mast cells was found to be independent of calcium in the concentration range up to 1 m-mole/l. Phosphatidyl serine did not change the effect of calcium on spontaneous release.2. Spontaneous histamine release was found to vary with the strontium ion concentration. Graded increase in the release occurred as the concentration of strontium was raised from 1 to 10 m-mole/l. Phosphatidyl serine potentiated this action of strontium; the potentiation showed a graded increase as the phosphatidyl serine concentration was raised from 1 to 100 mug/ml.3. The activation of anaphylactic histamine release by calcium was potentiated by phosphatidyl serine; the degree of potentiation showed a graded increase as the calcium concentration was raised from 0.1 to 1.0 m-mole/l.4. The activation of anaphylactic histamine release by strontium showed little, if any, potentiation by phosphatidyl serine.5. The response of the mast cells, in terms of anaphylactic histamine release, to calcium, in the presence of optimal concentrations of phosphatidyl serine, was found to be similar to that observed in the presence of strontium alone.6. These observations are discussed in terms of the concepts of affinity and efficacy of the ions at their receptor sites.