CO-reacting haemoproteins of neutrophils: Evidence for cytochrome b-245 and myeloperoxidase as potential oxidases during the respiratory burst

Room temperature, CO-difference spectra of intact rat polymorphonuclear leucocytes (neutrophils) revealed the presence of a number of CO-binding haemoproteins. Absorption maxima at 413, 540 and 570 nm were attributed to the CO-complex of cytochromeb-245 whereas an absorption maximum at 595 nm was assigned to the contribution from a myeloperoxidase complex, since an identical absorption maximum was observed in CO-difference spectra of purified myeloperoxidase in the presence of H₂O₂. Photochemical action spectra for the relief of CO-inhibited O₂ uptake revealed contributions from both cytochromeb-245 and myeloperoxidase. The potential of these two O₂- and CO-binding haemoproteins to function as oxidases during the respiratory burst is discussed.     

Chemiluminescence of human bloodstream monocytes and neutrophils: An unusual oxidant(s) generated by monocytes during the respiratory burst

Maximal rates of O and H₂O₂ production by human bloodstream monocytes activated during the respiratory burst by phorbol ester were only about 10% of those of neutrophils. Furthermore, monocytes possess only about 5% of the myeloperoxidase activity of neutrophils and so can only produce low levels of HOCI and related compounds. These combined reductions in O generating ability and lower myeloperoxidase levels result in low luminol chemiluminescence stimulated during the respiratory burst of monocytes. However, although monocytes generate much lower levels of O and H₂O₂ than neutrophils, these cells produce comparable rates of PMA-stimulated lucigenin chemiluminescence. Hence, this assay does not accurately reflect the production of either of these two oxidants by activated phagocytes, and further lucigenin must react with some other oxidant(s) via a process which leads to photon emission. This oxidant(s) is not O, H₂O₂, · OH, ¹O₂ or NO, but is derived from O generated during the respiratory burst and is generated in greater quantities by activated monocytes compared with neutrophils. Thus, lucigenin chemiluminescence is an indirect measure of superoxide release.     

Influence of 4-hydroxynonenal on chemiluminescence production by unstimulated and opsonized zymosan-stimulated human neutrophils

The lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxy-2, 3-trans-nonenal (HNE) has a spectrum of biological effects on different cell types depending on the concentrations tested. In particular micromolar HNE concentrations stimulate neutrophil migration and polarization whereas higher doses inhibit. In our experimental conditions, fMet-Leu-Phe (fMLP) increased CL production of both unstimulated and zymosan-stimulated neutrophils, whereas cell stimulation with low HNE concentrations as well as zymosan addition to HNE incubated cells did not enhance light emission. In contrast 10(-4) M HNE reduced CL emission by unstimulated cells nearly to background values, completely depressed CL production by zymosan-stimulated cells and reduced phagocytosis. Cysteine was found to be able to counteract the HNE effect by about 70 per cent. The possibility that this aldehyde could exert its inhibitory effect through the alkylation of NADPH-oxidase SH-groups is postulated. Moreover, our present data on differences observed between fMLP and HNE indicate a different chemotactic mechanism induced by these two classes of compounds and lead to the conclusion that the local functional features of the attracted cells may be different.     

An inhibitor of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase enhances the superoxide production of human neutrophils stimulated by N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine

Intact human neutrophils produced superoxide (O₂ ^–) by the stimulation with N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP) even when the extracellular Ca²⁺ was absent (0.56±0.13 nmol/min per 10⁶ cells). The production by fMLP was enhanced more than twice in the presence of the extracellular Ca²⁺. Moreover, the O₂ ^– production by fMLP in the presence of extracellular Ca²⁺ was enhanced nearly three times by the treatment of cells with H-89, an inhibitor of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA). The enhancement was not observed when the extracellular Ca²⁺ was depleted from the reaction mixture. In addition, H-89 did not enhance fMLP-induced O₂ ^– production of electropermeabilized neutrophils in which the intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration was fixed to about 100 nM. These observations suggest that not only Ca²⁺ influx but the inhibition of PKA is necessary for the maximum O₂ ^– production by fMLP and that the O₂ ^– production is partially suppressed by the activation of PKA induced by fMLP.     

Luminol-dependent chemiluminescence in bovine eosinophils and neutrophils: Differential increase of intracellular and extracellular chemiluminescence induced by soluble stimulants

Luminol chemiluminescence was used to detect activation of the respiratory burst oxidase in bovine eosinophils and neutrophils. Extracellular and intracellular chemiluminescence were measured by supplementing the medium with horseradish peroxidase and catalase, respectively. Pure bovine eosinophils (> 90%), maximally stimulated with 1 nmol/l phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) showed ten times more extracellular luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (CL) than maximally stimulated pure bovine neutrophils (> 96%). Extracellular CL from eosinophils was preferably induced over intracellular CL by both PMA (27-fold difference) and platelet-activating factor (PAF) at 2 μmol/l (9-fold difference), but not by calcium ionophore A23187 (15 μmol/l). Time course information was used in the following experiments to distinguish between the mode of action of various stimulants. A progressively longer lag period was observed in eosinophil suspensions treated with decreasing doses of PMA, whereas platelet-activating factor induced a dose-dependent increase in the maximum response with no change in time to peak CL. The time course of extracellular CL was almost identical to intracellular CL for all stimulants tested, providing no evidence to suggest that extracellular CL stems from a different enzyme system than intracellular CL. Eosinophils generated most extracellular CL when stimulated with PMA, whereas neutrophils were most efficiently stimulated with A23187, which induced intracellular CL in eosinophils as well as in neutrophils. This accords with the greater tendency of neutrophils to ingest and kill microorganisms, whereas eosinophils are armed to destroy large extracellular targets.     

Activation of the neutrophil respiratory burst by chemoattractants: Regulation of the N-formyl peptide receptor in the plasma membrane

The N-formyl peptide receptor mediates a number of host defensive responses of human neutrophils that result in chemotaxis, secretion of hydrolytic enzymes, and superoxide generation. Inappropriate activation or defective regulation of these responses can result in pathogenic states responsible for inflammatory disease. The receptor is a 50 to 70-kD, integral plasma membrane glycoprotein with intracellular and surface localization. Its abundance in the membrane is regulated by membrane flow and recycling processes. Cytoskeletal interactions are believed to control its organization in the plane of the membrane and interaction with other proteins. The receptor's most important interaction is with guanyl nucleotide binding proteins that serve as signal transduction partners ultimately leading to activation of effector responses. Because the interaction of the receptor with G proteins is necessary for transduction, control of this interaction may be at the root of understanding the molecular control of responses in these cells. This review briefly summarizes some of the molecular properties, dynamics, and interactions of this receptor system in human neutrophils and discusses how these characteristics may pertain to the activation and control of superoxide generation.     

Cannabinoid receptor-independent suppression of the superoxide generation of human neutrophils (PMN) by CP55 940, but not by anandamide

Cannabinoids have been shown to affect various immune functions. To date, almost no data exist on PMN, which provide the first line antimicrobial defense. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of the synthetic dibenzopyrane ligand CP55 940, the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide and methanandamide on the "respiratory burst" of isolated human PMN in vitro. After preincubation with high micromolar concentrations of CP55 940, fMLP-stimulated PMN showed a reduction in superoxide production, whereas the spontaneous burst activity of resting PMN remained unaffected. This inhibitory effect of CP55 940 was not CB-receptor-mediated. In contrast, anandamide and methanandamide did not alter the oxidative microbicidal PMN function.     

Microparticles released by human neutrophils adhere to erythrocytes in the presence of complement

The release of cell surface-derived microparticles, or ectosomes, has now been described for many different cell types. In various diseases characterized by systemic inflammation, the numbers of ectosomes released from specific cell-types are found increased manifold in the circulation. Their pro-inflammatory and pro-coagulant functions make them potentially important actors in disease establishment and/or progression. Until now, ectosomes have been believed to be free in the circulation. Herein, we provide evidence for sequestration of ectosomes derived from human polymorphonuclear neutrophils to erythrocytes, similarly to immune complexes. We show that ectosomes activate and bind complement in vitro. In whole blood, opsonization of ectosomes by complement mediated their immune adherence to erythrocytes through complement receptor 1. Taken together, our data suggest an important role for complement and erythrocytes in the sequestration, and possibly clearance, of blood-borne ectosomes stemming from neutrophils. The immune adherence described here may modify the biological activity and function of ectosomes.     

Effect of lysophosphatidic acid on motility, polarisation and metabolic burst of human neutrophils

Abstract The effect of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) on human neutrophil activation was examined by a combination of automated tracking assays, cell shape measurements and assays of the metabolic burst by means of 7-dimethylamino-naphthalene-1,2-dicarbonic acid hydrazide (DNDH)-dependent chemiluminescence. LPA powerfully stimulated polarisation and motility. Polarisation became detectable at 2 μM LPA and virtually 100% of cells were polarised at 20 μM LPA. Cell motility increased with the degree of polarisation, and was diminished at high LPA concentration, but this decrease was reversed by albumin. LPA also inhibited the metabolic burst response to both n -formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP) and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). Inhibition of the PMA-induced metabolic burst by LPA was not affected by pertussis toxin, showing that the effect was not mediated by the pertussis toxin-sensitive heterotrimeric G protein, and that inhibition of the PMA-stimulated metabolic burst by LPA could result from a direct action of LPA on the small cytosolic GTP-binding proteins. These results indicate that lysophosphatidic acid production by thrombin-activated platelets could play a significant role in the regulation of the inflammatory response.     

Intracellular production of reactive oxygen species in human neutrophils following activation by the soluble stimuli FMLP, dioctanoylglycerol and ionomycin.

The stimuli, sn-1, 2-dioctanoylglycerol; (DG8) the calcium specific ionophore, ionomycin, and the chemotactic peptide formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) can interact with normal human neutrophils and activate their superoxide/hydrogen peroxide generating NADPH-oxidase. In response to the peptide as well as DG8, the neutrophils produced both superoxide (O2-) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Since interaction between the cells and ionomycin was not associated with any notable superoxide production and hydrogen peroxide was induced only in the presence of azide, a potent inhibitor of the hydrogen peroxide-consuming enzymes catalase and myeloperoxidase, we conclude that this stimulus can generate oxygen metabolites intracellularly. Since the DG8-induced production of hydrogen peroxide was increased in the presence of azide, whereas the FMLP-induced response was largely unaffected, we concluded that the three stimuli differ in their capacity to generate oxygen metabolites intracellularly. The use of sn-1,2-didecanoylglycerol (DG10) as stimulating agent did not result in any detectable activation of the NADPH-oxidase. However, preincubation caused an increased (primed) response during stimulation with the chemotactic peptide FMLP. The response of primed neutrophils to FMLP proceeds with a time-course different from that seen in normal cells. From the results presented on FMLP-induced activity in the presence of azide, we conclude that FMLP causes normal cells to produce oxygen radicals which are released from the cells. However, the primed cells are also capable of generating oxygen metabolites that are retained inside the cells. In fact, measurement of the intracellularly generated metabolites discloses this to be the predominant part of the response.     

Improvement of the antibody-dependent respiratory burst assay for assessing protective immune responses to malaria

The antibody-dependent respiratory burst (ADRB) assay is a sensitive isoluminol-based chemiluminescence (CL) functional assay designed to assess the capacity of opsonizing antibodies against merozoites to induce neutrophil respiratory burst. ADRB was shown to measure protective immunity against malaria in endemic areas, but the assay needed further improvement to ensure better sensitivity and reproducibility. Here, we adjusted parameters such as the freezing–thawing procedure of merozoites, merozoites''s concentration and the buffer solution''s pH, and we used the improved assay to measure ADRB activity of 207 sera from 97 and 110 individuals living, respectively, in Dielmo and Ndiop villages with differing malaria endemicity. The improvement led to increased CL intensity and assay sensitivity, and a higher reproducibility. In both areas, ADRB activity correlated with malaria endemicity and individual''s age discriminated groups with and without clinical malaria episodes, and significantly correlated with in vivo clinical protection from Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Our results demonstrate that the improved ADRB assay can be valuably used to assess acquired immunity during monitoring by control programmes and/or clinical trials.     

Neutrophil function in whole blood and after purification: Changes in receptor expression,oxidase activity and responsiveness to cytokines

Neutrophil function and plasma membrane receptor expression was measured in cell suspensions isolated by two separate procedures and in unfractionated whole blood. When cells were prepared by a combined dextran/ficoll procedure, their ability to generate reactive oxidants in response to fMet-Leu-Phe was greater than in corresponding cells isolated by a one-step procedure on Mono-Poly Resolving Medium (M-PRM). Cells prepared by both methods could be primedin vitro by rGM-CSF, but the priming ratio was greater in cells prepared by the latter method. The ability of neutrophils in whole blood to generate reactive oxidants in response to fMet-Leu-Phe was extremely low, but this was increased by more than 10 fold if the blood was pre-incubated with rGM-CSF. Similarly, expression of CD 11b and CD 16 was very low (or undetectable) in neutrophils in whole blood, but this was rapidly increased upon priming. Activation by PMA resulted in a down regulation of CD 16 expression as the receptor was shed from the cell surface. Neutrophils isolated by either the dextran/ficoll or the M-PRM method showed increased expression of receptors compared with those in whole blood, although this expression was lower in cells isolated by the latter method. These data indicate that the isolation procedures used to obtain purified neutrophils prime both receptor expression and oxidase function, although these effects are minimalised in isolation procedures using M-PRM. Furthermore, as CD 16 expression on neutrophils in whole blood is rapidly up-regulated during priming, it seems likely that, as for complement receptors, rapidly-mobilisable intracellular stores of this receptor exist.     

Fast and sensitive chemiluminescence determination of H2O2 concentration in stimulated human neutrophils

A fast and sensitive chemiluminescence assay for the determination of H₂O₂ in stimulated neutrophils without the use of enzymes was developed. The method is based on the oxidation of luminol by hypochlorous acid. The chemiluminescence of this reaction is highly dependent on the concentration of hydrogen peroxide. Changes in H₂O₂ concentration in PMA-stimulated neutrophils were followed by injection of NaOCI to cell suspension at different times after cell stimulation. The short integration time of 2 s permits calculation of actual concentrations of H₂O₂ without influence of H₂O₂ decomposition by cellular enzymes or newly produced H₂O₂ due to dismutation of superoxide anion radicals. Concentrations of H₂O₂ were diminished by catalase and enhanced by sodium azide owing to inhibition of cellular catalase and myeloperoxidase. Changes in H₂O₂ concentration upon stimulation could be observed at 3000 cell/mL.     

Relationship between the binding of N-formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine and the respiratory responses in human neutrophils

The results presented in this paper demonstrate that the chemotactic peptide N-formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine (-Met-Leu-Phe) is rapidly inactivated by the products of the respiration of human neutrophils stimulated by the peptide itself. The process of inactivation is impeded by the addition of inhibitors of myeloperoxidase (KCN, NaN₃), of catalase, of methionine but not by the addition of superoxide dismutase, indicating that the mechanism of inactivation is the oxidation of methionine residue by myeloperoxidase-H₂O₂-halide system. The oxidation of the peptide causes the rapid cessation of the respiratory burst, since the sulfoxide derivative loses its ability to bind the specific receptors of neutrophil surface and, hence, its biological activity. The comparison between the time course of the binding of f-Met-Leu-[³H]Phe to the specific receptors and the rate of the respiratory response of neutrophils in the presence and in the absence of the process of peptide oxidation was used to investigate the mechanism of the activation of the respiratory burst by the peptide-receptor complexes. In conditions where the inactivation of the stimulatory agent takes place the stimulated respiration slows down and resumes the resting state shortly after the cessation of the binding, although a substantial amount of the peptide remains bound to the specific receptors. In conditions where the degradation of the peptide does not occur the binding of the peptide and the respiratory burst continue for a longer period of time, but the rate of the respiration, calculated in terms of the instantaneous velocity (V_ist), is not correlated to the amount of the ligand bound to the membrane receptors measured at various times, indicating that a summation of the effects ofthe ligand-receptor complexes does not occur as they form. These findings demonstrate, as far as the respiratory response is concerned, that the bioogical activity of the peptide-receptor complexes is short-lived and that continuous de-novo receptor occupancy is necessary for the maintenance of the activated respiration.     

Inactivation of a subpopulation of human neutrophils by exposure to ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene wear debris

Polymorphonuclear neutrophils, a first line of defence against invading microbial pathogens, may be attracted by inflammatory mediators triggered by ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) wear particles released from orthopaedic prostheses. Phagocytosis of UHMWPE particles by neutrophils may indirectly compromise their phagocytic-bactericidal mechanisms, thus enhancing host susceptibility to microbial infections. In an in vitro assay, pre-exposure of purified human neutrophils to UHMWPE micrometre- and submicrometre-sized wear particles interfered with subsequent Staphylococcos aureus uptake in a heterogeneous way, as assessed by a dual label fluorescence microscopic assay that discriminated intracellular rhodamine-labelled UHMWPE particles from fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled S. aureus. Indeed, a higher percentage (44%) of neutrophils having engulfed UHMWPE particles lost the ability to phagocytize S. aureus, compared with UHMWPE-free neutrophils (<3%). Pre-exposure of neutrophils to UHMWPE wear particles did not impair but rather stimulated their oxidative burst response in a chemoluminescence assay. The presence of UHMWPE wear particles did not lead to significant overall consumption of complement-mediated opsonic factors nor decreased surface membrane display of neutrophil complement receptors. In conclusion, engulfment of UHMWPE wear particles led to inactivation of S. aureus uptake in nearly half of the neutrophil population, which may potentially impair host clearance mechanisms against pyogenic infections.     

The structure and function of oxidized albumin in hemodialysis patients: Its role in elevated oxidative stress via neutrophil burst

Oxidized albumin is a reliable marker of oxidative stress in hemodialysis (HD) patients. However, oxidized albumin in vivo and its possible clinical significance has been rarely investigated. In the present study, the qualitative modification of albumin in HD patients (n = 20) was examined and their results were compared with healthy age-matched controls (n = 10). The increase in plasma protein carbonyl levels in HD patients was largely due to an increase in oxidized albumin. Human serum albumin (HSA) of HD patients, HSA of HD patients (HD-HSA) and normal subjects (Normal-HSA) were purified on a blue Sepharose CL-6B column. Spectroscopic analysis confirmed that the HD-HSA samples contained higher levels of carbonyls than Normal-HSA. An HPLC analysis also suggested that the state of the purified HSA used throughout the experiments accurately reflects the redox state of albumin in blood. HD-HSA was found to have a decreased the antioxidant activity, and was able to trigger the oxidative burst of human neutrophils, compared to Normal-HSA. HD-HSA was conformationally altered, with its hydrophobic regions more exposed and to have a negative charge. In binding experiments, HD-HSA showed impaired Site II-ligand binding capabilities. Collectively, the oxidation of plasma proteins, especially HSA, might enhance oxidative stress in HD patients.