Abstract

G protein-coupled receptors activate phospholipase C (PLC)-beta isoforms by the alpha or beta gamma subunits of G proteins, whereas growth-factor receptors activate PLC-gamma isoforms by phosphorylating tyrosine residues of the enzyme. As a common substrate for PLC enzymes, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [Ptdins(4,5)P2] may play a pivotal role in the regulation of cellular PLC activity. Because small-molecular-weight G proteins have been implicated in the synthesis of Ptdins(4,5)P2, we studied the effect of Clostridium difficile toxin B, which glucosylates and thereby inactivates small G proteins of the Rho family, on receptor-stimulated PLC activity. We report here that in N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells, stimulation of inositol phosphate formation by the G protein-coupled receptor agonists bradykinin and lysophosphatidic acid and by the tyrosine kinase receptor agonist platelet-derived growth factor is largely attenuated by toxin B treatment. Furthermore, inositol phosphate production stimulated by the stable GTP analog guanosine 5'-O-(3-thio)-triphosphate in permeabilized N1E-115 cells was inhibited by C3 exoenzyme, which specifically inactivates Rho proteins. The inhibition by toxin B was apparently not caused by its effect on the cytoskeleton. In addition, the level of platelet-derived growth factor receptors, which was studied with immunoblotting, was unaffected by toxin B. Using exogenous Ptdlns(4,5)P2 as PLC substrate, it was found that the intrinsic enzymatic activity of PLC activated either by Ca2+ or by guanosine 5'-O-(3-thio)triphosphate was not altered by toxin B. However, toxin B decreased strongly, by up to 80%, the cellular level of Ptdins(4,5)P2 in a concentration-dependent manner, without changing those of phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate. These results, together with the recent finding that Rho family proteins can regulate phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase activity, demonstrate that Rho proteins are presumably important regulators of Ptdins(4,5)P2 synthesis and, thereby, play an integral role in the regulation of cellular signaling by PLC enzymes.