Regulation of pHi in Saos-2 cells by thrombin: roles of proteolytic activity and cytosolic calcium transients.

Some, if not all, of the cellular actions of alpha-thrombin are now believed to be mediated by proteolytic cleavage of the cell surface thrombin receptor to yield a tethered ligand that initiates signal transduction via the receptor. We have investigated the actions of alpha-thrombin on the regulation of cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and intracellular pH (pHi) in human osteoblast-like Saos-2 cells. After acidification with nigericin, thrombin induced an acute increase of [Ca2+]i and a rise in pHi. The action of thrombin on pHi was dependent on activation of the Na(+)-H+ antiporter. Thrombin elicited parallel concentration-dependent increases in both [Ca2+]i and pHi, and the rise in [Ca2+]i was a prerequisite for the increase in pHi. Preincubation of thrombin with the active site proteolytic inhibitor, BOC-D-Phe-L-Pro-D,L-Lys-CF3, prevented the alkalinization response to thrombin but had little or no effect on the thrombin-induced rise in [Ca2+]i. Hirudin, a natural inhibitor of thrombin, acts by tight binding to several discrete regions on the thrombin molecule. Preincubation of thrombin with hirudin completely blocked the rise in both [Ca2+]i and pHi. These results demonstrate that the thrombin-induced rise in [Ca2+]i alone is not sufficient to cause alkalinization in Saos-2 cells. More importantly, our findings reveal that not all of the cellular actions of thrombin can be explained by proteolytic cleavage of the thrombin receptor and suggest that different domains on the thrombin molecule may be required for eliciting signals that raise [Ca2+]i and pHi in Saos-2 cells.