The use of digitonin to permeabilize the plasma membrane of Trypanosoma cruzi allowed the identification of a non-mitochondrial nigericin- or bafilomycin A1-sensitive Ca(2+)-uptake mechanism. Proton uptake, as detected by ATP-dependent Acridine Orange accumulation, was also demonstrated in these permeabilized cells. Under these conditions Acridine Orange was concentrated in abundant cytoplasmic...

pH is highly variable in different tissues and affects many enzymatic reactions in neutrophils. In response to calcium ionophores such as A23187 and ionomycin, neutrophils undergo nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NOX)-independent neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation (NETosis). However, how pH influences calcium-dependent Nox-independent NET formation is not well und...

Maturation of human myeloid cells is associated with quantitative and qualitative changes in protein kinase C (PKC) and increases in N-formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanine (FMLP) receptors, actin, and actin regulatory proteins. We have studied the actin responses and cell shape changes caused by FMLP and its second messenger pathways in HL60 cells undergoing neutrophilic maturation. In u...

Mast cells, mastocytoma cells and basophil leukaemia cells are well-established producers of leukotrienes when grown and stimulated appropriately. I report that the cells' ability to produce leukotrienes is dependent on the cells' proliferative status or their provision with growth factors. Proliferating MC/9 and subconfluent RBL2H3 cells respond maximally to stimulation by 1 microM ionomycin w...

To explore the role of calcium in mediating the action of carbachol in chloride-secreting epithelia, we simultaneously measured intracellular free [Ca] ([Ca]i) and the potassium conductance (gK) of the basolateral membrane in T84 cells grown on collagen-coated filters. [Ca]i was measured with fura-2 and fluorescence microscopy and expressed as a relative value ([Ca]'i) normalized to control. To...

Receptor-bypassing stimulants of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs), such as ionomycin or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), generate an increase in diacylglycerol (DAG) which is independent of a phospholipase C specific for phosphatidylinositol 4,5,-bisphosphate (PIP2). Activation of a phospholipase C specific for phosphatidylcholine (PC) has been implicated as a source of DAG in o...

Tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-alpha) is a potent proinflammatory cytokine and plays a crucial role in early events of inflammation. TNF-alpha is primarily produced by monocytes and T lymphocytes. In particular, T-cell-derived TNF-alpha plays a critical role in autoimmune inflammation and superantigen-induced septic shock. However, little is known about the intracellular signaling pathways that r...

Intermittent hypoxia (IH) resulting from sleep apnea can lead to pulmonary hypertension (PH) and right heart failure, similar to chronic sustained hypoxia (CH). Supplemental CO(2), however, attenuates hypoxic PH. We therefore hypothesized that, similar to CH, IH elicits PH and associated increases in arterial endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression, ionomycin-dependent vasodilation,...

The effects of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) on cytosolic pH (pHi) were studied on GH4C1 pituitary cells loaded with the fluorescent pH indicator bis(carboxyethyl)carboxyfluorescein (BCECF) and the fluorescent Ca2+ indicator quin2. TRH, which was minimally effective at around 10(-9) M, and TPA, 100 nM, produced very small elevations in pHi of...

Neonatal CD4(+) T cells express less CD154 protein and mRNA than adult CD4(+) T cells after activation by calcium ionophore and phorbol ester, but the mechanism for this reduced expression and its relevance to the primary immune response remain unclear. We compared expression of CD154 protein and mRNA and CD154 gene promoter activity by purified naive (CD45RA(high)CD45RO(low)) neonatal and adul...