Calcium mobilization in C5a-stimulated adult and newborn bovine neutrophils.

Calcium (Ca2+) is an important second messenger central to many neutrophil (PMN) functional activities. Impaired Ca2+ mobilization in newborn PMNs following membrane perturbation could be one of the mechanisms underlying observed abnormalities in neonatal PMN function. To compare Ca2+ mobilization in bovine newborn and adult PMNs, cytosolic Ca2+ responses after stimulation with recombinant human C5a (rHC5a) were measured. PMNs from normal newborn calves (N = 6) and adult cows (N = 5) were loaded with fura-2/AM for 60 min at room temperature and the fluorescence changes monitored following stimulation with 0.1, 1, 10, or 50 nM rHC5a in Ca2(+)-containing buffer. Resting levels of Ca2+ in both newborn (54.6 +/- 1.9 nM) and adult (57.3 +/- 1.8 nM) bovine PMNs were comparable. After stimulation with rHC5a, a rapid rise of cytosolic Ca2+ was observed, which peaked within 20 sec and was followed by a sustained phase of elevated Ca2+ lasting up to 20 min. There were no significant differences (P greater than 0.05) in peak levels of cytosolic Ca2+ obtained by newborn and adult PMNs at 0.1, 10, and 50 nM rHC5a. At 1 nM rHC5a, newborn PMNs reached significantly (P less than 0.05) higher levels of cytosolic Ca2+ (217.9 +/- 21.7 nM) than did adult PMNs (158.7 +/- 7.9 nM). At 1 nM rHC5a, newborn PMNs also sustained higher levels of cytosolic Ca2+ for 3 min following the peak. At all concentrations of rHC5a tested, the time required to reach the peak and the duration of the peak were comparable in both populations. In the absence of extracellular Ca2+ (Ca2(+)-free buffer with 1 mM EGTA), resting levels of cytosolic Ca2+ were lower in both newborn (33.3 +/- 2.9 nM) and adult PMNs (27.9 +/- 2.4 nM) and the magnitude of the peak response to rHC5a was diminished at all concentrations of agonist. Additionally, in the absence of extracellular Ca2+, the return to basal cytosolic Ca2+ levels occurred rapidly and the sustained phase of increased cytosolic Ca2+ seen with rHC5a-stimulated PMNs in Ca2(+)-containing buffer was virtually eliminated. These results indicate that bovine PMNs respond well to rHC5a, that stimulated newborn bovine PMNs can mobilize Ca2+ as efficiently as adult PMNs, and that the sustained cytosolic Ca2+ response to rHC5a in both age groups requires both release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores as well as influx of extracellular Ca2+. Such data suggest that observed functional deficits in newborn bovine PMNs are probably not related to improper mobilization of Ca2+ following stimulation.