A novel ecto-phosphatidic acid phosphohydrolase activity mediates activation of neutrophil superoxide generation by exogenous phosphatidic acid.

Phosphatidic acid (PA) added to intact cells activates a variety of processes including mitogenesis in fibroblasts and superoxide generation in neutrophils. We have investigated the mechanism of activation of superoxide generation in intact human neutrophils by a short-chain (dioctanoyl) PA (diC8PA). After a lag, diC8PA caused a high rate of superoxide production (19.6 nmol of cytochrome c reduced/min/10(6) cells). Activation did not require extracellular Ca2+ and coincided with near quantitative conversion of diC8PA to dioctanoylglycerol (diC8-glycerol). diC8PA also activated cellular phospholipase D with release of long-chain PA and secondary production of long-chain diradylglycerol (sn-1,2-diacylglycerol and 1-O-alkyl-2-acylglycerol). The metabolism of diC8PA to diC8-glycerol was catalyzed by a novel PA phosphohydrolase on the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane as demonstrated by the exclusive release of Pi into the extracellular medium. This enzyme also showed activity toward PA containing long-chain unsaturated fatty acids. The ecto-PA phosphohydrolase differed from the intracellular PA phosphohydrolase based on its relative insensitivity to desipramine and N-ethylmaleimide. The enzyme was also present in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and its activity did not change in transfected CHO cells expressing the two membrane-associated isoforms of alkaline phosphatase, indicating that the PA phosphohydrolase was not alkaline phosphatase. Non-hydrolyzable phosphonate analogs of diC8PA poorly stimulated superoxide production. Activation of superoxide generation by diC8PA was inhibited by staurosporine, suggesting a protein kinase C-dependent mechanism. We suggest that the action of a novel ecto-PA phosphohydrolase permits exogenously added short-chain PA to serve as "timed-release diacylglycerol" and that its biological effects in neutrophils are secondary to diacylglycerol-mediated protein kinase C activation.