3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibition in a rat mast cell line. Impairment of tyrosine kinase-dependent signal transduction and the subsequent degranulation response.

IgE molecules bind mast cells via a heterotetrameric receptor termed Fc epsilon RI. Cross-linking of bound IgE by specific allergen (Ag) initiates a signal transduction cascade resulting in a degranulation response. Inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme in isoprenoid and sterol biosynthesis, by the cholesterol-lowering drug, lovastatin, blocks Fc epsilon RI-dependent [3H] serotonin ([3H]5HT) release from the mast cell line, RBL-2H3. We studied the mode and locus of action of lovastatin in these cells. Lovastatin inhibited Ag-stimulated degranulation, as well as that evoked by ionomycin or by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin, stimuli which bypass early receptor events. Inhibition was concentration-dependent, occurred at levels which reduce lipid synthesis, and was reversible by addition of mevalonic acid, the product of the reductase reaction. The effects of lovastatin were not mimicked by treatment with the sterol demethylase inhibitor, econazole, suggesting that nonsterol isoprenoid synthesis is required for the degranulation response. Conversely, tyrosine kinase inhibitors from three disparate chemical classes reduced stimulus-evoked [3H]5HT release in a manner similar to lovastatin, suggesting that these agents share similar loci of action. Accordingly, lovastatin altered the phosphorylation pattern in unstimulated RBL-2H3, and reduced the phosphorylation response to IgE cross-linking. By analogy to 5HT release, this effect was concentration-dependent and mevalonic acid-reversible. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor, geldanamycin, also reduced the phosphorylation response to Ag. Lyn, a Src-related tyrosine kinase activated upon IgE cross-linking, was little influenced by either lovastatin or geldanamycin. Thus, lipid synthesis inhibition by lovastatin results in impaired tyrosine phosphorylation in RBL-2H3. This impairment is reflected in the subsequent exocytotic response. While lovastatin may inhibit tyrosine phosphorylation via an indirect mechanism, our results with tyrosine kinase inhibitors support the concept that multiple tyrosine kinases participate in the Fc epsilon RI-dependent signal transduction process.