Constitutive release of ATP and evidence for major contribution of ecto-nucleotide pyrophosphatase and nucleoside diphosphokinase to extracellular nucleotide concentrations

Nucleotides are important extracellular signaling molecules. At least five mammalian P2Y receptors exist that are specifically activated by ATP, UTP, ADP, or UDP. Although the existence of ectoenzymes that metabolize extracellular nucleotides is well established, the relative flux of ATP and UTP through their extracellular metabolic products remains undefined. Therefore, we have studied the kinetics of accumulation and metabolism of endogenous ATP in the extracellular medium of four different cell lines. ATP concentrations reached a maximum immediately after change of medium and decreased thereafter with a single exponential decay (t(1/2);1 approximately;230-40 min). ATP levels did not fall to zero but attained a base-line concentration that was independent of the medium volume and of the initial ATP concentration. Although the base-line concentration of ATP remained stable for up to 12 h, gamma-(32)P]ATP added to resting cells as a radiotracer was completely degraded within 120 min, indicating that steady state reflected a basal rate of ATP release balanced by ATP hydrolysis (20-200 fmol x min(-)(1) x cell(-)(6)). High performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed that the gamma-phosphate of ATP was rapidly, although transiently, transferred during steady state to species subsequently identified as UTP and GTP, indicating the existence of both ecto-nucleoside diphosphokinase activity and the accumulation of endogenous UDP and GDP. Conversely, addition of gamma-(32)P]UTP to resting cells resulted in transient formation of gamma-(32)P]ATP, indicating phosphorylation of endogenous ADP by nucleoside diphosphokinase. The final (32)P-products of gamma-(32)P]ATP metabolism were (32)P]orthophosphoric acid and a (32)P-labeled species that was further purified and identified as (32)P]inorganic pyrophosphate. In C6 cells, the formation of (32)P]pyrophosphate from gamma-(32)P]ATP at steady state exceeded by 3-fold that of (32)P]orthophosphate. These results illustrate for the first time a constitutive release of ATP and other nucleotides and reveal the existence of a complex extracellular metabolic pathway for released nucleotides. In addition to the existence of an ecto-ATPase activity, our results suggest a major scavenger role of ecto-ATP pyrophosphatase and a transphosphorylating activity of nucleoside diphosphokinase.