Leukotriene D4-Induced Activation of Smooth-Muscle Cells From Human Bronchi Is Partly Ca2 +-Independent

Cysteine-containing leukotrienes (cysteinyl-LTs) are potent bronchoconstrictors and play a key role in asthma. We found that histamine and LTD4 markedly constrict strips of human bronchi (HB) with similar efficacy. However, in human airway smooth-muscle (HASM) cells, LTD4, at variance with histamine, elicited only a small, transient change in intracellular calcium ion concentration. HASM cells express both Ca2 +-dependent and -independent isoforms of protein kinase C (PKC) (i.e., PKC- α and PKC- α ). Western blot analysis showed that PKC- α is activated by histamine and, to a lesser extent, by LTD4, whereas only LTD4 translocates PKC- α . This translocation was specifically inhibited by the LTD4 antagonist pobilukast. Phorbol-dibutyrate ester (PDBu) (a PKC activator) contracted HB strips to the same extent in the presence as in the absence of extra- and intracellular Ca2 +. In the absence of Ca2 +, LTD4 contracted HB strips to the same extent as did PDBu, suggesting the involvement of a Ca2 +-independent PKC in LTD4-mediated signal transduction. PDBu-induced desensitization and the PKC inhibitor H7 abolished the slow and sustained LTD4-triggered contraction of HB strips in the absence of Ca2 +, although H7 did not greatly affect the response in the presence of the ion. Thus, in human airways, we identified a novel LTD4 transduction mechanism linked to bronchial smooth-muscle contraction, which is partly independent of Ca2 + and involves the activation of PKC- α .