| Summary: | The allergenic activity of 60 kDa antigen of Brugia malayi adult worm, due to its ability to release histamine from mast cells, has been previously reported by us. To determine the roles of protein kinase C (PKC) and calmodulin in this process, histamine release from passively sensitized lung and peritoneal mast cells was investigated in the presence of W-7 and trifluoperazine, used as calmodulin inhibitors, and H-7, used as a PKC inhibitor. The results show that H-7 is able to inhibit histamine release from both lung and peritoneal mast cells, thus suggesting a vital role of PKC in histamine release. However, lung and peritoneal mast cells exhibited a differential response to the calmodulin inhibitors. The calmodulin inhibitors prevented histamine release from peritoneal mast cells, but not from lung mast cells, thus suggesting that calmodulin is not essential for histamine release by lung mast cells.
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