Reconstitution and characterization of the human neutrophil respiratory burst oxidase using recombinant p47-phox, p67-phox and plasma membrane.

Human neutrophil respiratory burst oxidase (NADPH-oxidase) activity can be reconstituted in a cell-free system consisting of plasma membrane, cytosol and an anionic amphiphile [e.g., sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or arachidonate]. Herein, we report reconstitution of oxidase activity using isolated neutrophil plasma membrane together with purified recombinant p47-phox and p67-phox which had been produced using a baculovirus expression system. Activity required an anionic amphiphile (SDS or arachidonate) and was potentiated by diacylglycerol and GTP gamma S. Serial washes of the plasma membrane failed to affect its ability to reconstitute activity, indicating that a dissociable membrane component was not present. The Km for NADPH, 43 microM, was the same as that determined using cytosol in place of recombinant factors. The EC50 values for p47-phox and p67-phox under optimal activation conditions were 220 nM and 80 nM, respectively, indicating a relatively high affinity of these components in an activation complex. Since neither cytosolic component contains a nucleotide binding consensus sequence, these data indicate that the NADPH binding component of the oxidase resides in the plasma membrane.     

Diradylglycerol synergizes with an anionic amphiphile to activate superoxide generation and phosphorylation of p47phox in a cell-free system from human neutrophils

The superoxide-generating respiratory burst oxidase (NADPH oxidase) from human neutrophils can be activated in a cell-free system consisting of plasma membranes, cytosol, and an anionic amphiphile such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or arachidonate, and guanosine 5'-(3-O-thio)triphosphate (GTP(gamma)S) augments activation. We report herein that short-chain diacylglycerols (e.g. dioctanoylglycerol (diC8)) synergize with SDS in the activation of superoxide generation in a dose- and time-dependent manner, resulting in rates up to 1400 nmol/min/mg plasma membrane protein, or 250-700% higher than the rate seen with SDS alone. diC8 did not affect significantly the dose response for either cytosol or SDS, indicating that the activation was not due to increased sensitivity of the oxidase toward either of these components. At optimal concentrations of SDS and diC8, additional activation was observed in the presence of GTP(gamma)S, indicating that diC8 and GTP activate by separate mechanisms. In contrast to diC8, other known activators of protein kinase C (phorbol myristate acetate and mezerein) augmented SDS activation only minimally (typically 20-30%), and neither diacylglycerols nor tumor promoters activated in the absence of SDS. Activation by diC8 was calcium and phosphatidylserine independent, and the specificity for neutral lipids was atypical for protein kinase C. Inhibitors of protein kinase C (staurosporine and a peptide substrate analog) also failed to inhibit the response. Nevertheless, phosphorylation of several neutrophil proteins including p47phox was seen with both SDS and diC8, and synergistic phosphorylation of p47phox was seen when both activating factors were present. Thus, diacylglycerol synergizes with SDS in activating both superoxide generation and p47phox phosphorylation in the cell-free activation system, but the activation is atypical of a protein kinase C mechanism.     

Assembly and activation of the NADPH:O2 oxidoreductase in human neutrophils after stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate

Phagocytic leukocytes contain an activatable NADPH:O2 oxidoreductase. Components of this enzyme system include cytochrome b558, and three soluble oxidase components (SOC I, SOC II, and SOC III) found in the cytosol of resting cells. Previously, we found that SOC II copurifies with, and is probably identical to, a 47-kDa substrate of protein kinase C. In the present study we investigated the change in location of several of these oxidase components after activation of intact neutrophils with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and separation of subcellular fraction on sucrose density gradients. On Western blots with fractions of resting cells, the alpha subunit of cytochrome b558 was detected with a monoclonal antibody as a doublet of Mr 22,000 and 24,000 in the specific granules and as a single band of Mr 24,000 in the plasma membrane. PMA induced an increase of cytochrome b558 in the plasma membrane, including the Mr 22,000 band. PMA also induced translocation of the 47-kDa protein from the cytosol to the membrane fraction, as revealed by in vitro phosphorylation experiments. When NADPH oxidase activity was determined in a cell-free system in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and GTP with plasma membranes from resting cells, cytosol from PMA-treated cells was deficient compared with cytosol from resting cells. This deficiency could be partially restored by the addition of SOC I. Concomitantly, SOC I activity appeared in the plasma membranes of PMA-treated cells. These studies support the hypothesis that PMA stimulation of neutrophils results in assembly of oxidase components from the cytosol and the specific granules in the plasma membrane with subsequent expression of NADPH oxidase activity.     

Assembly of the neutrophil respiratory burst oxidase. Protein kinase C promotes cytoskeletal and membrane association of cytosolic oxidase components.

Activated human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) convert molecular oxygen into superoxide anion, a process known as the respiratory burst, through the activity of a latent multicomponent NADPH-dependent oxidase. Components of this respiratory burst oxidase include the membrane-bound cytochrome b558 and the cytosolic factors p47-phox and p67-phox. We initiated these studies based on three observations: 1) that stimulation of PMN oxidase activity is associated with translocation of the cytosolic oxidase components to the plasma membrane; 2) that p47-phox is phosphorylated during PMN activation and that there is a sequential relationship between phosphorylation of p47-phox in the cytosol and appearance of the phosphoprotein in the membran; and 3) that the predicted amino acid sequences of p47-phox and of p67-phox contain regions of homology to the SH3 or A domain of the src family of tyrosine kinases, a region found in a variety of proteins which interact with the cytoskeleton or the subplasmalemmal cytoskeleton. Thus the purpose of our studies was to examine the role of protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent phosphorylation in the stimulus-induced association of p47-phox and p67-phox with the plasma membrane and the cytoskeleton. Using the PKC activator phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) as the agonist, we found that activation of the respiratory burst oxidase was associated with translocation of cytosolic p47-phox and p67-phox to the plasma membrane as well as redistribution of p47-phox to the Triton-insoluble cytoskeleton. Furthermore, the PKC inhibitor staurosporine inhibited phosphorylation of p47-phox, interrupted the redistribution of cytosolic oxidase factors, and blocked PMA-induced generation of superoxide anion. Taken together these results indicate that PKC-dependent phosphorylation of p47-phox correlates with association of p47-phox with the cytoskeleton and with translocation of p47-phox and p67-phox to the plasma membrane, with the ensuing assembly of an active superoxide-generating NADPH-dependent oxidase.     

P67-phox-mediated NADPH oxidase assembly: imaging of cytochrome b558 liposomes by atomic force microscopy

NADPH oxidase activity depends on the assembly of the cytosolic activating factors, p67-phox, p47-phox, p40-phox, and Rac with cytochrome b(558). The transition from an inactive to an active oxidase complex induces the transfer of electrons from NADPH to oxygen through cytochrome b(558). The assembly of oxidase complex was studied in vitro after reconstitution in a heterologous cell-free assay by using true noncontact mode atomic force microscopy. Cytochrome b(558) was purified from neutrophils and Epstein-Barr virus-immortalized B lymphocytes and incorporated into liposomes. The effect of protein glycosylation on liposome size and oxidase activity was investigated. The liposomes containing the native hemoprotein purified from neutrophils had a diameter of 146 nm, whereas after deglycosylation, the diameter was reduced to 68 nm, although oxidase activity was similar in both cases. Native cytochrome b(558) was used after purification in reconstitution experiments to investigate the topography of NADPH oxidase once it was assembled. For the first time, atomic force microscopy illustrated conformational changes of cytochrome b(558) during the transition from the inactive to the active state of oxidase; height measurements allow the determination of a size of 4 nm for the assembled complex. In the processes that were studied, p67-phox displayed a critical function; it was shown to be involved in both assembly and activation of oxidase complex while p47-phox proceeded as a positive effector and increased the affinity of p67-phox with cytochrome b(558), and p40-phox stabilizes the resting state. The results suggest that although an oligomeric structure of oxidase machinery has not been demonstrated, allosteric regulation mechanisms may be proposed.     

New insights into the membrane topology of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase: characterization of an anti-gp91-phox conformational monoclonal antibody

Cytochrome b(558) is the catalytic core of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase that mediates the production of bactericidal reactive oxygen species. Cytochrome b(558) is formed by two subunits gp91-phox and p22-phox (1/1), non-covalently associated. Its activation depends on the interaction with cytosolic regulatory proteins (p67-phox, p47-phox, p40-phox and Rac) leading to an electron transfer from NADPH to molecular oxygen and to the release of superoxide anions. Several studies have suggested that the activation process was linked to a change in cytochrome b(558) conformation. Recently, we confirmed this hypothesis by isolating cytochrome b(558) in a constitutively active form. To characterize active and inactive cytochrome b(558) conformations, we produced four novel monoclonal antibodies (7A2, 13B6, 15B12 and 8G11) raised against a mixture of cytochrome b(558) purified from both resting and stimulated neutrophils. The four antibodies labeled gp91-phox and bound to both native and denatured cytochrome b(558). Interestingly, they were specific of extracellular domains of the protein. Phage display mapping combined to the study of recombinant gp91-phox truncated forms allowed the identification of epitope regions. These antibodies were then employed to investigate the NADPH oxidase activation process. In particular, they were shown to inhibit almost completely the NADPH oxidase activity reconstituted in vitro with membrane and cytosol. Moreover, flow cytometry analysis and confocal microscopy performed on stimulated neutrophils pointed out the capacity of the monoclonal antibody 13B6 to bind preferentially to the active form of cytochrome b(558). All these data suggested that the four novel antibodies are potentially powerful tools to detect the expression of cytochrome b(558) in intact cells and to analyze its membrane topology. Moreover, the antibody 13B6 may be conformationally sensitive and used as a probe for identifying the active NADPH oxidase complex in vivo.     

Complementation of NADPH oxidase in p67-phox-deficient CGD patients p67-phox/p40-phox interaction.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is due to a functional defect of the O2- generating NADPH oxidase of phagocytes. Epstein-Barr-virus-immortalized B lymphocytes express all the constituents of oxidase with activity 100 times less than that of neutrophils. As in neutrophils, oxidase activity of Epstein-Barr-virus-immortalized B lymphocytes was shown to be defective in the different forms of CGD; these cells were used as a model for the complementation studies of two p67-phox-deficient CGD patients. Reconstitution of oxidase activity was performed in vitro by using a heterologous cell-free assay consisting of membrane-suspended or solubilized and purified cytochrome b558 that was associated with cytosol or with the isolated cytosolic-activating factors (p67-phox, p47-phox, p40-phox) from healthy or CGD patients. In p67-phox-deficient CGD patients, two cytosolic factors are deficient or missing: p67-phox and p40-phox. Not more than 20% of oxidase activity was recovered by complementing the cytosol of p67-phox-deficient patients with recombinant p67-phox. On the contrary, a complete restoration of oxidase activity was observed when, instead of cytosol, the cytosolic factors were added in the cell-free assay after isolation in combination with cytochrome b558 purified from neutrophil membrane. Moreover, the simultaneous addition of recombinant p67-phox and recombinant p40-phox reversed the previous complementation in a p40-phox dose-dependent process. These results suggest that in the reconstitution of oxidase activity, p67-phox is the limiting factor; the efficiency of complementation depends on the membrane tissue and the cytosolic environment. In vitro, the transition from the resting to the activated state of oxidase, which results from assembling, requires the dissociation of p40-phox from p67-phox for efficient oxidase activity. In the process, p40-phox could function as a negative regulatory factor and stabilize the resting state.     

A carboxy-terminal peptide from p47-phox is a substrate for phosphorylation by protein kinase C and by a neutrophil protein kinase.

Agonist-activated phosphorylation of neutrophil proteins including p47-phox, a cytosolic component of the respiratory burst oxidase, has been implicated in the signal transduction cascade which leads to activation of the superoxide generating respiratory burst. We have previously reported (J. Biol. Chem. 265, 17550-59) that in a cell-free activation system consisting of cytosol plus plasma membrane from human neutrophils, diacylglycerol acts synergistically with an anionic amphiphile such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to augment superoxide generation and assembly of the oxidase, and that p47 phosphorylation can occur under these conditions. Herein, we show that a peptide corresponding to a carboxy terminal sequence of p47-phox is a substrate for phosphorylation both by purified protein kinase C (a mixture of alpha, beta, and gamma forms) and by a distinct kinase or kinases present in neutrophil cytosol. Based on its activator requirements, the neutrophil kinase differs from classical protein kinase C, but may be a protein kinase C variant, based on inhibition by a protein kinase C peptide. Although in the cell-free system phosphorylation occurs under conditions which are similar to those for activation of superoxide generation, phosphorylation is not required for activation (1). Rather, protein assembly or aggregation which occurs under activation conditions may also promote phosphorylation.     

Nucleoside triphosphate requirements for superoxide generation and phosphorylation in a cell-free system from human neutrophils. Sodium dodecyl sulfate and diacylglycerol activate independently of protein kinase C.

The NADPH-oxidase of human neutrophils can be activated in a cell-free system comprised of plasma membrane, cytosol, and an anionic amphiphile such as arachidonate or sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Recently, we showed that diacylglycerol acts synergistically with SDS in the cell-free system to stimulate superoxide generation, with concurrent phosphorylation of a 47-kDa cytosolic protein which is thought to be a component of the oxidase (Burnham, D. N., Uhlinger, D. J., and Lambeth, J. D. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 17550-17559). We report herein that when undialyzed cytosol is used along with either SDS alone or SDS plus diacylglycerol as activators, adenosine 5'-(gamma-thio)triphosphate (ATP gamma S) and guanosine 5'-(gamma-thio)triphosphate (GTP gamma S) both stimulated superoxide generation several fold, yielding about the same maximal velocity. ATP and GTP showed lower levels of stimulation. Stimulation by ATP gamma S and GTP gamma S was nonadditive, and showed a 5-7-fold greater specificity for GTP gamma S. ATP gamma S stimulation was inhibited by the nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) kinase inhibitor UDP. In contrast, when extensively dialyzed cytosol was used, most of the stimulation by ATP gamma S was lost, while most of that by GTP gamma S was retained. Addition of GDP restored the ability of ATP gamma S to stimulate, consistent with NDP kinase-catalyzed formation of GTP gamma S from ATP gamma S plus GDP. This activity was demonstrated directly in both cytosol and plasma membrane. Using undialyzed cytosol, phosphorylation of p47 showed a similar nonspecificity for nucleoside triphosphates, due to NDP kinase activity, but revealed the expected ATP specificity when dialyzed cytosol was used. Neither ATP gamma S nor GTP gamma S were good substrates for protein phosphorylation. Under a variety of conditions, phosphorylation of p47 or other neutrophil proteins failed to correlate with oxidase activation. The present studies indicate that SDS and diacylglycerol stimulation of superoxide generation in the cell-free system is independent of protein kinase C or other protein kinase activity, and suggest a novel role for diacylglycerol in cell regulation.     

The cytosolic components of the respiratory burst oxidase exist as a M(r) approximately 240,000 complex that acquires a membrane-binding site during activation of the oxidase in a cell-free system.

Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) treatment of a mixture of cytosol and plasma membranes from resting neutrophils resulted in the activation of the respiratory burst oxidase, a complicated enzyme that catalyzes the production of O2- from NADPH and oxygen. Activation was accompanied by translocation to the plasma membranes of the oxidase components p47phox and p67phox, which in resting cytosol were found in a M(r) approximately 240,000 complex. This translocation, which appeared to take place without a major change in the size of the cytosolic complex, did not occur if the membranes lacked cytochrome b558, and was inhibited by the peptide PRGV-HFIFNK, a sequence found near the carboxyl terminus of cytochrome b558 that was known from earlier work to inhibit O2- production by the cell-free system (Rotrosen, D., Kleinberg, M. E., Nunoi, H., Leto T., Gallin, J. I., and Malech H. L. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 8745-8750). Cytosols pretreated with the cross-linking agents 3,3'-dithiobis(sulfosuccinimidyl) propionate (DTSSP) (cleavable by 2-mercaptoethanol) and bis-(sulfosuccinimidyl) suberate (not cleavable by 2-mercaptoethanol) lost most of their ability to support O2- production in the cell-free system, and oxidase components from DTSSP-treated cytosol failed to translocate to the plasma membrane. When DTSSP-treated cytosols were incubated with 2-mercaptoethanol, however, both O2- production and translocation were partly restored, indicating that the functional impairment in DTSSP-treated cytosols was probably due at least in part to a restriction in the conformational mobility of the cross-linked peptide chains in the approximately 240,000 complex. These findings provide further support for the idea that the cytosolic components of the respiratory burst oxidase exist in the form of a approximately 240,000 complex, and suggest that the exposure of this complex to SDS induces a structural change that may or may not be associated with the loss of an inhibitory subunit too small to cause a detectable change in the size of the complex. This SDS-induced change allows translocation to take place by creating a membrane-binding site on the surface of the complex.     

Uncompetitive inhibition of superoxide generation by a synthetic peptide corresponding to a predicted NADPH binding site in gp91-phox, a component of the phagocyte respiratory oxidase

The large subunit of cytochrome b558, gp91-phox, is believed to play a key role in superoxide generation in neutrophils by accepting electrons from NADPH and donating them to molecular oxygen. We found that a peptide corresponding to a predicted NADPH binding site in gp91-phox inhibited superoxide generation in a cell-free system consisting of neutrophil membrane and cytosol. Minimum essential sequence for the inhibition was KSVWYK, which corresponded to residues 420-425 (IC50 = 30 microM). Unlike other peptides known to inhibit the reaction, this peptide was effective even when added to the system after activation or to activated membrane from stimulated neutrophils. Furthermore, the peptide inhibited superoxide generation in a membrane system activated without cytosol. Kinetic analysis revealed that the peptide inhibited the reaction uncompetitively. These results suggest that the peptide combines with the activated cytochrome b558-NADPH complex and thereby inhibits electron transfer from NADPH to molecular oxygen.     

The phagocyte 47-kilodalton cytosolic oxidase protein is an early reactant in activation of the respiratory burst

Activation of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase requires participation of membrane-bound cytochrome b558 and cytosol proteins of 47 kDa (p47) and 67 kDa (p67). We examined the sequence of participation of p47 and p67 in activation of the oxidase using an arachidonate-activated cell-free superoxidase (O2-) generating assay requiring phagocyte membrane and cytosol. Neutrophil cytosol from patients with certain forms of autosomal recessive chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) lack either p47 or p67. Initial incubation of membrane and arachidonate with CGD cytosol deficient in either p47 or p67 fails to generate superoxide in the cell-free assay until addition of complementary cytosol. CGD cytosol was incubated with arachidonate and membrane for 5-15 min and the lag time of O2- generation was measured after addition of complementary CGD cytosol. The lag time is shortened when p47, but not p67, is present in the initial incubation. We have previously shown that the peptide, RGVHFIF, corresponding to a cytoplasmic carboxyl-terminal domain of the large subunit of cytochrome b558, inhibits activation of NADPH oxidase in the cell-free assay, but does not affect the enzyme activity of fully assembled oxidase. Experiments with sequential addition of complementary CGD cytosols were performed as above, except that RGVHFIF was added after the initial incubation. The peptide failed to inhibit when added after initial incubation if p47 was present during that incubation. In contrast, the peptide markedly inhibited oxidase activity if p47 was absent during the initial incubation. These results suggest that p47, but not p67, is a participant with membrane and/or other cytosol components in early arachidonate-dependent reactions. In the absence of p67, these reactions culminate in the irreversible formation of a metastable activation intermediate that is insensitive to inhibition by RGVHFIF. After addition of p67, this activation intermediate subsequently reacts to form the active NADPH oxidase.     

Induction of the respiratory burst in HL-60 cells. Correlation of function and protein expression

Differentiation of myeloid cells is associated with the gradual acquisition of functional capacity to produce a respiratory burst. In our study HL-60 cells were differentiated to the monocyte phenotype with IFN-gamma or 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, or to the neutrophil phenotype with retinoic acid or DMSO to compare the time-course of expression of membrane and cytosolic oxidase components, and to correlate this with the appearance of a functional oxidase. Over a 6-day period of induction the rank order of the ability of these agents to induce expression of PMA-stimulated superoxide production was: IFN-gamma greater than 1,25(OH)2D3 greater than retinoic acid greater than DMSO. Immunoblot analysis of HL-60 membranes and cytosol was used to assess the amount of specific phagocyte oxidase factors (91 and 22 kDa subunits of membrane cytochrome b558 (gp91 and p22), and 47 and 67 kDa cytosol oxidase factors (p47 and p67)). HL-60 cell membranes or cytosol were tested in a cell-free assay of superoxide production by mixing with normal neutrophil cytosol or membranes, respectively. p47 was first detected at 16 h of differentiation, increasing similarly thereafter with all induction regimens and reaching a maximum by 3 to 4 days. The earliest detection of p67 varied from 2 to 6 days depending on the inducing agent and appeared to be the limiting cytosol component. Small amounts of both subunits of cytochrome b558 were detected in uninduced HL-60 membranes, but were sufficient to support substantial superoxide production when combined with normal neutrophil cytosol. Both cytochrome b558 subunit proteins and membrane oxidase activity increased during differentiation in parallel. We conclude that membrane and cytosol components of the NADPH oxidase complex appear at different times and increase differently during HL-60 differentiation. The production of p67 is the major factor limiting the respiratory burst during HL-60 differentiation.     

Two cytosolic components of the neutrophil NADPH oxidase, P47-phox and P67-phox, are not flavoproteins

Two cytosolic proteins, p47-phox and p67-phox, have been shown to be essential components of the NADPH-dependent oxidase of human neutrophils, although the specific role of each of these proteins in the multicomponent electron transport complex is undetermined. The superoxide-generating activity of this oxidase can be reproduced in a cell-free system, combining cytosol and membranes from unstimulated neutrophils in the presence of fatty acid and NADPH. In the present studies, cytosol was treated with myristic acid, arachidonic acid, or sodium dodecyl sulfate in the absence of membranes and the resultant precipitate collected by centrifugation and analyzed. Both p47-phox and p67-phox precipitated in the presence of fatty acid. However, neither FAD nor FMN was localized in the precipitates, even though substantial amounts of p47-phox and p67-phox precipitated. These results suggest that neither p47-phox nor p67-phox is a flavoprotein and that neither, therefore, is the oxidase component which accepts electrons from NADPH.     

Role of Mg2+ in activation of NADPH oxidase of human neutrophils: evidence that Mg2+ acts through G-protein.

The membrane fraction and three cytosolic proteins of neutrophils, p47-phox, p67-phox and a G-protein, are involved in the cell-free activation of the O2(-)-generating NADPH oxidase in the presence of SDS, though it has been controversial whether the G-protein is required or just enhancing the activity. We have used the three cytosolic factors, the solubilized membrane fraction, GTP gamma S and SDS, and found that both G-protein and GTP gamma S are essential for the activation of the NADPH oxidase. The effect of GTP gamma S is modified by Mg2+: the cations enhance the O2- generation at low concentrations of GTP gamma S, whereas they attenuate the activity at higher concentrations of GTP gamma S. In presence of 10 microM GTP gamma S, the maximal activity is observed at 0.1 microM Mg2+, which is several-fold higher than that at 1 mM Mg2+. The omission of Mg2+ followed by the chelation with EDTA results in loss of the activation, which is completely restored by the addition of Mg2+. Thus, Mg2+ seems to modulate the activation of the NADPH oxidase at the level of the G-protein.     

Phosphorylation of neutrophil 47-kDa cytosolic oxidase factor. Translocation to membrane is associated with distinct phosphorylation events

Activation of the phagocytic cell superoxide-generating NADPH oxidase requires interaction of cytosolic and membrane-associated components. With most stimuli activation of the oxidase is accompanied by multisite phosphorylation of the 47-kDa cytosolic oxidase factor (p47) which translocates from cytosol to membranes. Native p47 is a highly basic protein that undergoes stepwise charge shifts with successive phosphorylation events. Phosphorylation of p47 was studied by immunoprecipitation from neutrophil cytosol and membrane fractions followed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. In the resting cell p47 was not phosphorylated. In the cytosol of phorbol myristate acetate-activated neutrophils eight distinct p47 phosphoproteins were present. The membrane fraction from these activated cells contained a family of p47 phosphoproteins of electrophoretic mobilities identical to those seen in cytosol plus an additional, more acidic p47 phosphoprotein not present in cytosol. Very early after activation (30 s) only the four most acidic p47 phosphoproteins were present in the membrane fraction. Only at later times (5-15 min) was the full spectrum of p47 phosphoproteins present in the membrane fraction. In contrast, the full spectrum of p47 phosphoproteins was present in the cytosol over the entire time course we studied. In neutrophils from patients with cytochrome b558-deficient chronic granulomatous disease p47 phosphorylation was incomplete and p47 translocation to membrane did not occur. These studies demonstrated that the cytochrome was essential for formation of the three most acidic p47 phosphoproteins and greatly augmented formation of the fourth most acidic p47 phosphoprotein found in normal neutrophils. The temporal correlation between specific p47 phosphorylation events and p47 translocation to membrane is consistent with a model of oxidase activation in which a series of p47 phosphorylation events which occurs in cytosol precedes and may be required for p47 interaction with membrane.     

Regulation of the superoxide-generating NADPH oxidase by a small GTP-binding protein and its stimulatory and inhibitory GDP/GTP exchange proteins.

The superoxide-generating NADPH oxidase system in phagocytes consists of at least membrane-associated cytochrome b558 and three cytosolic components named SOCI/NCF-3/sigma 1/C1, SOCII/NCF-1/p47-phox, and SO-CIII/NCF-2/p67-phox. p47-phox and p67-phox were isolated, and their primary structures were determined, but SOCI has not been well characterized. In the present study, we first purified SOCI to homogeneity from the cytosol fraction of the differentiated HL-60 cells. The purified SOCI was a small GTP-binding protein (G protein) with a M(r) of about 22,000. The guanosine 5'-(3-O-thio)triphosphate-bound form, but not the GDP-bound form, of this small G protein showed the SOCI activity. The partial amino acid sequence of SOCI thus far determined was identical to the amino acid sequence deduced from the cDNA encoding rac2 p21. None of the purified small G proteins, including Ki-ras p21, smg p21B/rap1B p21, rhoA p21, and rac1 p21, showed the SOCI activity. These results indicate that SOCI is a small G protein very similar, if not identical, to rac2 p21. The GDP/GTP exchange reaction of SOCI was stimulated and inhibited by stimulatory and inhibitory GDP/GTP exchange proteins for small G proteins, named smg GDS and rho GDI, respectively. The NADPH oxidase activity was also stimulated and inhibited by smg GDS and rho GDI, respectively. These results indicate that the superoxide-generating NADPH oxidase system is regulated by both smg GDS and rho GDI through rac2 p21 or the rac2-related small G protein in phagocytes.     

Race-specific elicitors of Cladosporium fulvum promote translocation of cytosolic components of NADPH oxidase to the plasma membrane of tomato cells.

The effect of race-specific elicitors on NADPH oxidase was examined in vivo by treating tomato cells with elicitor-containing intercellular fluids prepared from infected tomato leaves inoculated with specific Cladosporium fulvum races. Treatment of Cf-4 or Cf-5 cells with intercellular fluids from incompatible but not from compatible races of C. fulvum increased oxidase activity and the amount of p67-phox, p47-phox, and rac2 in the plasma membrane. Comparison of these three components in the cytosol and plasma membrane indicated that elicitors promoted the translocation of cytosolic components of NADPH oxidase to the plasma membrane of tomato cells carrying the appropriate resistance gene. Protein kinase C activators and inhibitors did not affect enzyme activity or the binding of these three components to the plasma membrane. In contrast, staurosporine, calmodulin antagonists, and EGTA inhibited elicitor-induced oxidase activity and the translocation of the cytosolic components. The assembly process involves a Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinase that catalyzes the phosphorylation of p67-phox and p47-phox, facilitating their translocation to the plasma membrane. Our data suggest that although both plants and animals share common elements in eukaryotic signal transduction, the involvement of different protein kinases mediating the activation of phosphorylation of p67-phox and p47-phox may reflect the unique spatial and temporal distribution of signal transduction pathways in plants.