Characterization of protease-activated receptors in rat peritoneal mast cells.

Activation of protease-activated receptor (PAR)-1 or PAR-2 elicits inflammation most probably via mast cell degranulation in vivo. The present study aimed at characterizing PARs in rat peritoneal mast cells (PMC). Messenger RNA for PAR-1, but not for PAR-2, was detected in PMC. Thrombin, the PAR-1 agonist SFLLR-NH2 or the PAR-2 agonist SLIGRL-NH2 failed to induce histamine release from PMC. Surprisingly, the PAR-2-inactive control peptide LSIGRL-NH2 triggered histamine release from PMC. Thus, PAR-1, but not PAR-2, are expressed in PMC, whereas neither PAR-1 nor PAR-2 are considered to be involved in degranulation of PMC. LSIGRL-NH2 does not appear to be appropriate as a control peptide for PAR-2 in inflammation studies.