Cytosolic phospholipase A(2) (cPLA(2)) plays a critical role in mast-cell-related allergic responses [Uozumi, Kume, Nagase, Nakatani, Ishii, Tashiro, Komagata, Maki, Ikuta, Ouchi et al. (1997) Nature (London) 390, 618-622]. Bone-marrow-derived mast cells from mice lacking cPLA(2) (cPLA(-/-)(2) mice) were used in order to better define the role of cPLA(2) in the maturation and degranulation of such cells. Cross-linking of high-affinity receptors for IgE (FcepsilonRI) on cells from cPLA(-/-)(2) mice led to the release of negligible amounts of arachidonic acid or its metabolites, the cysteinyl leukotrienes and prostaglandin D(2), indicating an essential role for cPLA(2) in the production of these allergic and pro-inflammatory lipid mediators. In addition, the histamine content of the mast cells and its release from the cells were reduced to 60%. While these results are in agreement with a reduced anaphylactic phenotype of cPLA(-/-)(2) mice, the ratios of release of histamine and beta-hexosaminidase were, paradoxically, significantly higher for cells from cPLA(-/-)(2) mice than for those from wild-type mice. Consistently, IgE-induced calcium influx in mast cells was greater and more prolonged in cells from cPLA(-/-)(2) mice than in those from wild-type mice. Thus the loss of cPLA(2) not only diminishes the release of lipid mediators, but also alters degranulation. While the overall effect is still a decrease in the release of mast cell mediators, explaining the in vivo findings, the present study proposes a novel link between cPLA(2) and the degranulation machinery.