Publications

Abstract

Anion-exchange h.p.l.c. was used initially to analyse the products formed after addition of either [3H]Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 or [3H]Ins(1,4,5)P3 to homogenates of pancreatic islets. Metabolic routes similar to those of other tissues were established: dephosphorylation of Ins(1,4,5)P3 to Ins(1,4)P2 and then Ins4P; and sequential degradation of Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 to Ins(1,3,4)P3, Ins(3,4)P2 and Ins(3 or 1)P. In addition, there was a limited conversion of Ins(1,3,4)P3 into Ins(1,3)P2. After stimulation of [3H]inositol-prelabelled islets with the muscarinic-receptor agonist carbamoylcholine (carbachol), there was a rapid (10 s) increase in Ins(1,4,5)P3, Ins(1,3,4)P3, Ins(1,4)P2 and Ins4P. In the presence of 10 mM-LiCl, Ins1P was also significantly increased (P less than 0.05) by 5 s, before any increase in Ins4P (10 s), Ins(1,3)P2 (60 s) or Ins(3,4)P2. When carbachol was displaced with atropine, after 1 h pre-stimulation, the maximal decreases in Ins(1,4,5)P3 and Ins1P from the stimulated steady state (5 s) clearly preceded those of the other metabolites. These declines were used to calculate the turnover times and rate of metabolic flux through the various inositol phosphates. These experiments confirmed the relatively minor importance of the Ins(1,3)P2 pathway (less than 10% of the total flux) and demonstrated that Ins(1,4,5)P3 removal was evenly distributed through the Ins(1,4)P2 and Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 routes. They also established that flux through Ins1P was 8-fold greater than that through Ins(1,4,5)P3, indicating that the former could not have been derived from PtdInsP2 hydrolysis. Similarly, in islets pretreated with neomycin, which binds to PtdInsP2 with greater affinity than to PtdIns, the increase in Ins1P caused by 1 min stimulation with carbachol was not affected, despite virtual abolition of the increase in Ins4P, and an overall inhibition of PtdInsP2 hydrolysis by 67%. The results indicate that, in addition to PtdInsP2 breakdown, carbachol also promotes a rapid PtdIns hydrolysis which becomes increasingly predominant with prolonged stimulation.