Calcium ionophore A23187 does not stimulate lipopolysaccharide nonresponsive C3H/HeJ peritoneal macrophages to produce interleukin 1.

C3H/HeJ mice are hyporesponsive to the biologic effects of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The defect in the strain of mice is believed to be due to the expression of a mutant allele designated Lpsd at the chromosome four locus. The molecular basis of this hyporesponsiveness is not known, but it may result from some defective membrane signal transductions. To examine this possibility, we compared the abilities of interleukin 1 (IL-1) production by C3H/HeJ macrophages with those by C3H/He macrophages (LPS responsive) after stimulation with the calcium ionophore A23187 or phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). A23187 induced IL-1 production by C3H/He macrophages, but it did not induce IL-1 production by C3H/HeJ macrophages and neither did LPS. However, it had the ability to increase intracellular free Ca2+ in C3H/HeJ macrophages as well as in C3H/He macrophages, this being examined by the changes in cytosolic Ca2+ in the macrophages by using Quin 2. In contrast, PMA was able to induce IL-1 production by both C3H/He and C3H/HeJ macrophages without increasing intracellular Ca2+. Since polymyxin B did not inhibit A23187- or PMA-induced IL-1 production by C3H/He macrophages, these results are not due to the little amount of LPS in culture medium, but due to their own characteristics. A calmodulin antagonist W-7 effectively inhibited A23187-induced IL-1 production by C3H/He macrophages. However, it hardly inhibited LPS-induced IL-1 production except at high concentration, and it caused no inhibition of the PMA-stimulated one. These results suggest that the blocking sites expressed phenotypically by the Lpsd are shared by LPS- and A23187-stimulated cellular processes, although the actions of LPS and A23187 are different from each other. In addition to the direct study with LPS or lipid A, A23187 should provide another useful approach to clarify the molecular mechanisms of Lpsd defect in C3H/HeJ macrophages.