Abstract:We have previously reported that hydrogen peroxide (H202) induced a considerable increase of phospholipase D (PLD) activity and phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase in P012 cells. H202-induced PLD activation and MAP kinase phosphorylation were dose-dependently inhibited by a specific MAP kinase kinase inhibitor, PD 098059. In contrast, carbacholmediated PLD activation was not inhibited by the PD 098059 pretreatment whereas MAP kinase phosphorylation was prevented. These findings indicated that MAP kinase is implicated in the PLD activation induced by H202, but not by carbachol. In the present study, H202 also caused a marked release of oleic acid (OA) from membrane phospholipids in P012 cells. As we have previously shown that OA stimulates PLD activity in P012 cells, the mechanism of H202-induced fatty acid liberation and its relation to PLD activation were investigated. Pretreatment of the cells with methylarachidonyl fluorophosphonate (MAFP), a phospholipase A2 (PLA2) inhibitor, almost completely prevented the release of [ 3H]OAby H 202 treatment. From the preferential release of OA and sensitivity to other PLA2 inhibitors, the involvement of a Ca 2~-independent cytosolic PLA 2-type enzyme was suggested. In contrast to OA release, MAFP did not inhibit PLD activation by H202. The inhibitory profile of the OA release by PD 098059 did not show any correlation with that of MAP kinase. These results lead us to suggest that H202-induced PLD activation may be mediated by MAP kinase and also that H202-mediated OA release, which would be catalyzed by a Ca 2~-independentcytosolic PLA 2-like enzyme, is not linked to the PLD activation in P012 cells. Key Words: Hydrogen peroxide-Mitogenactivated protein kinase-Phospholipase D-Oleic acid-Phospholipase A2-P012 cells.