Stimulation of Sphingosine-1-phosphate Formation by the P2Y2 Receptor in HL-60 Cells: Ca2+ Requirement and Implication in Receptor-Mediated Ca2+ Mobilization, but Not MAP Kinase Activation

  1. Regina Alemany,
  2. Britta Sichelschmidt,
  3. Dagmar Meyer zu Heringdorf,
  4. Holger Lass,
  5. Chris J. van Koppen and
  6. Karl H. Jakobs
  1. Institut für Pharmakologie, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Essen, Germany

    Abstract

    Sphingosine-1-phosphate (SPP), produced by sphingosine kinase, has recently been reported to act as an intracellular second messenger for Ca2+ and mitogenic responses triggered by membrane receptors and as an extracellular ligand for specific SPP receptors. Here, we investigated the signaling pathway leading to SPP production by the G protein-coupled P2Y2 receptor and its functional implication in human leukemia (HL-60) cells, which do not respond to extracellular SPP. P2Y2 receptor activation by UTP or ATP resulted in rapid and transient production of SPP, which was insensitive to pertussis toxin and blocked by the sphingosine kinase inhibitor, dl-threo-dihydrosphingosine. Treatment of HL-60 cells with this inhibitor did not affect activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases, but suppressed Ca2+ mobilization by the P2Y2 receptor. However, receptor-induced SPP production apparently required an increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration, but not Ca2+ influx, and was mimicked by exposure of cells to Ca2+ ionophores. Taken together, activation of the P2Y2 receptor stimulates SPP production in HL-60 cells, a process apparently not required for mitogen-activated protein kinase activation, but most likely representing an amplification system for receptor-mediated Ca2+ signaling.

    Footnotes

    • Send reprint requests to: Dr. Karl H. Jakobs, Institut für Pharmakologie, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, D-45122 Essen, Germany. E-mail:karl.jakobs{at}uni-essen.de

    • This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; a grant (0310493A) from Bayer AG and the Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie; a fellowship of the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Madrid, Spain (to R.A.); and the Interne Forschungsförderung Essen.

    • Abbreviations:
      SPP
      sphingosine-1-phosphate
      tDHS
      dl-threo-dihydrosphingosine
      MAP kinase
      mitogen-activated protein kinase
      Erk
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase
      PTX
      pertussis toxin
      BAPTA
      1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid
      HBSS
      Hanks' balanced salt solution
      SAPK/JNK
      stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase
      PMA
      phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate
      fMLP
      N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine
      • Received December 6, 1999.
      • Accepted May 25, 2000.
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