Epidermal growth factor-mediated signaling of G(i)-protein to activation of phospholipases in rat-cultured hepatocytes

Hepatocytes were established in tissue culture in order to study the effects of pertussis toxin (PT) on epidermal growth factor (EGF)-mediated cellular responses under in vitro conditions. EGF caused a 3-fold increase of myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins-1,4,5-P3) mass and a 50% increase of diacylglycerol mass within the first minute, with the change of diacylglycerol content being 100-fold greater than that of Ins-1,4,5-P3. Diacylglycerol, but not Ins-1,4,5-P3, continued to accumulate over several hours, indicating that EGF increased the hydrolysis of lipids other than phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2). EGF increased phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma) tyrosine phosphorylation within 1 min, but no effect was observed with vasopressin, insulin, or glucagon after 5 min. EGF also caused a rapid, tyrosine kinase-dependent association of G(i) alpha with PLC-gamma, which was maximal within 10 min. In contrast to our previous data on fresh hepatocytes, PT had no effect on the EGF-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma, although Ins-1,4,5-P3 and diacylglycerol production were inhibited. The role of G-proteins in EGF signaling was investigated further by microinjection of G alpha antibodies into single fura-2-loaded hepatocytes. Anti-G(i) alpha (common) antibodies prevented EGF-induced but not vasopressin-induced Ca2+ transients. These results strengthen previous observations that a PT-sensitive G-protein is involved in EGF-mediated phospholipid metabolism in hepatocytes and show that tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma is an insufficient signal for activation of PIP2 hydrolysis.