The role of calcium ions in the process of acetyltransferase activation during the formation of platelet-activating factor (PAF-acether).

The role of Ca2+ in the activation of the enzyme lyso-(platelet-activating factor): acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase was studied in rat peritoneal macrophages in response to complement-coated zymosan particles and ionophore A23187. By using Ca2+-containing buffers, a threshold concentration of extracellular Ca2+ above 1 microM was found to be necessary to observe the activation of the enzyme in response to zymosan. By contrast, a significant role of intracellular Ca2+ in this process could be ruled out, since the putative intracellular calcium-transport antagonist TMB-8 [8-(NN-diethylamino)octyl-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate] did not inhibit the activation of the acetyltransferase induced by zymosan in the presence of extracellular Ca+. The link between acetyltransferase activation and extracellular Ca2+ transport was studied by measuring Ca2+ uptake in response to the stimuli. Zymosan particles induced a rapid increment in cell-associated Ca2+ which correlated well with the extent of acetyltransferase activation (r = 0.91) and with the release of platelet-activating factor (r = 0.95) in response to different doses of zymosan. Cellular Ca2+ efflux in response to zymosan particles was also measured and found to be increased, as compared with controls, when the activation of the acetyltransferase declined. In short, the data suggest that the entry of extracellular Ca2+ into the cell is a crucial event in the activation of acetyltransferase and, thereby, in the formation of platelet-activating factor in rat peritoneal macrophages.