Phospholipase C-gamma 1 is translocated to the membrane of rat basophilic leukemia cells in response to aggregation of IgE receptors.

Aggregation of the high affinity receptor for IgE (Fc epsilon RI) on the surface of mast cells results in the rapid hydrolysis of membrane inositol phospholipids by phospholipase C (PLC). Although at least seven isoenzymes of PLC have been characterized in different mammalian cells, the isoenzyme involved in Fc epsilon RI-mediated signal transduction and the mechanism of its activation have not been demonstrated. We now report that PLC-gamma 1 is translocated to the membrane of mast cells after aggregation of Fc epsilon RI. Activation of rat basophilic leukemia cells, a rat mast cell line, with oligomeric IgE resulted in an increase in PLC activity in washed membrane preparations in a cell free assay containing exogenous 3H]phosphatidylinositol (PI). The increase in PLC activity has the same dose-response to oligomeric IgE as receptor mediated hydrolysis of inositol lipids (PI hydrolysis) in intact cells. Analysis by Western blot probed with anti-PLC-gamma 1 antibody revealed that there is a three- to fourfold increase in PLC-gamma 1 in membranes from activated cells. The increase in PLC activity is augmented a further 20% by the addition of orthovanadate to the incubation medium suggesting that a tyrosine phosphatase is involved in the down-regulation of this phenomenon. These findings demonstrate translocation of PLC-gamma 1 to the membrane following activation of a receptor which does not contain intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity. Activation of PLC-gamma 1 by this pathway may account for Fc epsilon RI-mediated PI hydrolysis.