Isolation of the respiratory burst oxidase: the role of a flavoprotein component

Reconstitution of flavin-depleted neutrophil flavocytochrome b558 with 8-mercapto-FAD and characterization of the flavin-reconstituted enzyme

Cytochrome b558 isolated from human neutrophils was inactive and contained no detectable FAD. However, high NADPH oxidase activity was seen upon reconstitution of the cytochrome with either native FAD or 8-mercapto-FAD in the presence of phospholipids (phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylethanolamine/phosphatidylinositol/ sphingomyelin/cholesterol, 4:2:1:3:3 (w/w)). Their cell-free superoxide-generating activities were 40.5 and 35.5 mol/s/mol of heme, respectively, which corresponded to 70 and 61% of the original activity of the plasma membranes. Both flavins co-eluted with heme and protein on gel exclusion chromatography. The respective specific flavin content was 6.45 and 7.93 nmol/mg of protein and corresponded to a flavin:heme molar ratio of 0.41 and 0.51 consistent with a 2:1 ratio of heme to flavin. Mixing of 8-mercapto-FAD with flavin-depleted cytochrome b558 caused a red-shift of the flavin absorption maximum from 520 nm to around 560 nm, as has been seen when a variety of other apoflavoprotein dehydrogenases bind this analog. The 8-mercapto-FAD reconstituted into the cytochrome reacted readily with either iodoacetamide (k = 38.8 M-1.min-1) or iodoacetic acid (k = 12.1 M-1.min-1) to give a fluorescence spectrum characteristic of a 8-mercaptoflavin derivative, 8-SCH2CONH2 FAD or 8-SCH2COOH FAD. These results indicate that position 8 of FAD bound to the protein is freely accessible to solvent. These studies support the idea that cytochrome b558 is a flavocytochrome.

Superoxide production by cytochrome b559. Mechanism of cytosol-independent activation

Purified cytochrome b559 relipidated with either a mixture of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidic acid or with phosphatidylcholine only exhibits high and low superoxide (O2-) producing ability, respectively, in the absence of cytosolic activators [Koshkin, V. and Pick, E. (1993) FEBS Lett. 327, 57-62]. This system was used as a model for the study of the mechanism of NADPH oxidase activation. It is shown that, depending on the composition of the phospholipid environment, cytochrome b599 binds FAD with high or low affinity, this being accompanied by changes in flavin absorbance and fluorescence. High affinity binding of FAD to cytochrome b559 relipidated with phosphatidylcholine combined with phosphatidic acid is associated with an enhanced NADPH-driven O2- producing capacity. A kinetic study of O2- production by cytochrome b559 reflavinated under stoichiometric FAD binding conditions revealed an FAD/heme ratio of 1:2. A further kinetic study of O2- production by high- and low-activity relipidated and reflavinated cytochrome b559, at varying substrate concentrations, and the determination of steady-state difference spectra of such preparations, reduced by NADPH, indicated that O2- production is activated by facilitation of electron transfer from NADPH to FAD rather than by an enhancement of NADPH binding.

Relationship between phosphorylation and translocation to the plasma membrane of p47phox and p67phox and activation of the NADPH oxidase in normal and Ca(2+)-depleted human neutrophils

Stimulation of neutrophils with different agonists activates a latent multicomponent NADPH oxidase that reduces molecular oxygen to superoxide anion. Evidence has accumulated that phosphorylation of p47phox (the 47 kDa cytosolic phagocyte oxidase factor) and translocation of the two cytosolic components p47phox and p67phox are essential steps in the activation of NADPH oxidase in response to phorbol esters. We analysed the relationships between activation of the NADPH oxidase and phosphorylation and translocation of p47phox and p67phox in normal and Ca(2+)-depleted neutrophils stimulated by the receptor-mediated agonists formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine and concanavalin A. The results produced the following conclusions: (1) Translocation of p47phox and p67phox is an essential mechanism for activation of the NADPH oxidase. (2) A continuous translocation of p47phox and p67phox is necessary to maintain the NADPH oxidase in an activated state. (3) Only a fraction of p47phox and p67phox translocated to the plasma membrane is functional for the activation of the oxidase. (4) Translocation is independent of protein kinase C, and is linked to transmembrane signalling involving Ca2+ transients and production of lipidic second messengers. However, under some conditions, such as in Ca(2+)-depleted neutrophils, translocation can also occur independently of signalling pathways involving production of second messengers from hydrolysis of phospholipids and Ca2+ transients. (5) Phosphorylation of p47phox and p67phox can be quantitatively dissociated from translocation, as staurosporine markedly inhibits phosphorylation but not translocation. (6) The activity of NADPH oxidase is not correlated with the amounts of the phosphorylated proteins present in the plasma membrane.

Human neutrophil phospholipase D activation by N-formylmethionyl-leucylphenylalanine reveals a two-step process for the control of phosphatidylcholine breakdown and oxidative burst

A comparative study of real-time kinetics of respiratory burst, monitored by H2O2-dependent chemiluminescence, and phospholipase D (PLD)-mediated phosphatidylcholine breakdown has been undertaken on human neutrophils stimulated by N-formylmethionyl-leucylphenylalanine in the absence of cytochalasin B. The fungal metabolite 17-hydroxywortmannin (HWT), an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase activation, decreases phosphatidic acid (PA) production by 30% at a concentration of 1 nM. Higher concentrations (10 nM-1 microM) inhibit PA formation maximally by 50% as compared with control. In all cases, the inhibition is delayed by 20-30 s after addition of the agonist. Thus the full PA generation is actually the result of an early (HWT-insensitive) and a late (HWT-sensitive) phosphatidylcholine breakdown. However, under all conditions, alkylacylglycerol remains at the basal level. PLD activity is dependent on Ca2+ influx, but is fully inhibited in cells depleted of Ca2+ with EGTA and Quin 2. The effect of HWT on the respiratory burst was investigated by measuring the kinetics of H2O2-induced chemiluminescence. This method allows to distinguish various phases of superoxide ion production: a lag, an increase in H2O2 formation (early phase), the duration of H2O2 production (late phase) and the termination of the oxidative burst. The lag remains constant for all HWT concentrations. A concentration of 10 nM-HWT, which fully inhibits the HWT-sensitive part of PA production, decreases superoxide ion production with a delay of about 20 s after addition of the agonist. Higher HWT concentrations, which have no additional effect on PLD inhibition, equally affect an early and a late phase of the burst. Thus high doses of HWT have a site of action which decreases the whole burst but does not affect the PLD any more. Therefore HWT and Ca2+ provide evidence for a two-step process for PLD activation. Only the delayed PA generation is functionally linked to a late phase of the oxidative burst.

Electron transfer reactions in the NADPH oxidase system of neutrophils--involvement of an NADPH-cytochrome c reductase in the oxidase system

Membrane-bound NADPH oxidase of pig blood neutrophils was solubilized with heptylthioglucoside in a high yield. The solubilized preparation from myristate-stimulated cells (sample S) showed high O2- generating activity, and the preparation from resting cells (sample R) had no activity, but the two samples had equal amounts of flavins and cytochrome b-558 (cyt b-558). The electron transfer reactions to exogenous cytochrome c (cyt c) or cyt b-558 in samples S and R were examined. Under anaerobic conditions, NADPH-dependent cyt c reductase activity appeared higher in sample S than in sample R, and the addition of FMN and FAD greatly enhanced the reductase activity of sample S, but not that of sample R. No marked difference between the reductase activities of samples S and R was seen with NADH. Photoreduction of the NADPH oxidase system was examined in the absence of NADPH under anaerobic conditions by monitoring the reduction rates of exogenous cyt c using a flashlight with cut-off filters between 400 and 500 nm. Cyt c reduction was much higher in sample S than in sample R on photoexcitation at about 450 nm. Photoreduction was carried out with a band-pass filter for selective irradiation at 450 nm. Marked reduction of exogenous cyt c was observed only in sample S: the small reduction of cyt c by sample R was independent of the light wavelength and was equal to the blank level. In contrast, no difference in the reduction of cyt b-558 by the two samples was found by either NADPH or photoreduction. Under aerobic conditions, no direct reduction of either cyt c or cyt b-558 was observed. These results suggest that an NADPH-cyt c reductase (a membrane-bound flavoprotein) is involved in the NADPH oxidase system of stimulated neutrophils.

NADPH-cytochrome c reductase from rabbit peritoneal neutrophils. Purification, properties and function in the respiratory burst

An NADPH-dependent membrane-bound flavoprotein dehydrogenase, assayed as a catalyst of electron transfer from NADPH to cytochrome c, was extracted from membranes of rabbit peritoneal neutrophils with Triton X-100 and sodium deoxycholate in the presence of diisopropylfluorophosphate as antiprotease, and purified to electrophoretic homogeneity. The purified enzyme in detergent was able to enhance the rate of formation of the superoxide anion O2- in a cell-free system, consisting of membrane and cytosolic fractions from resting neutrophils complemented with arachidonic acid, guanosine 5'-[gamma- thio]triphosphate and Mg2+. This suggested that the NADPH dehydrogenase was a component of the rabbit neutrophil oxidase complex. The purification factor of the enzyme with respect to the membrane fraction was close to 1000 and the recovery of activity was 33%. FMN and FAD were associated with the enzyme in a molar ratio close to 1. On SDS/PAGE, the enzyme migrated with a molecular mass of 77 kDa. A similar mass was determined by filtration on a molecular sieve. The isoelectric point of this enzyme was 4.7 +/- 0.1. Its activity was maximal between pH 7.5 and pH 8.5, and depended on the ionic strength of the medium, with a maximum at an ionic strength of 0.5. Reduction of cytochrome c by NADPH obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a KM value of 15 microM for cytochrome c. When NADPH was the variable substrate, a KM value of 1.9 microM for NADPH was found, but a significant deviation from Michaelis-Menten kinetics was observed at high concentrations of NADPH. Mersalyl strongly inhibited the reductase activity when added to the enzyme prior to NADPH; preincubation of the enzyme with NADPH considerably reduced the inhibitory efficiency of mersalyl. A partially proteolyzed water-soluble, active, form of enzyme with a molecular mass of 67 kDa was prepared. The proteolyzed enzyme exhibited the same specificity, and kinetic behavior with respect to NADPH, and the same dependency on the ionic strength, as the native enzyme.

Respiratory burst of rabbit peritoneal neutrophils. Transition from an NADPH diaphorase activity to an .O2(-)-generating oxidase activity

Superoxide (.O2-) production by the NADPH oxidase of a membrane fraction derived from rabbit peritoneal neutrophils activated by 4 beta-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) was studied at 25 degrees C under different conditions, and measured by the superoxide dismutase inhibitable reduction of cytochrome c. Whereas PMA-activated rabbit neutrophils incubated in a glucose-supplemented medium exhibited a substantial rate of production of .O2-, the membranes prepared by sonication of the activated neutrophils were virtually unable to generate .O2- in the presence of NADPH. Instead, they exhibited an NADPH-dependent diaphorase activity, measured by the superoxide-dismutase-insensitive reduction of cytochrome c. Upon addition of arachidonic acid, which is known to elicit oxidase activation, the NADPH diaphorase activity of the rabbit neutrophil membranes vanished and was stoichiometrically replaced by an NADPH oxidase activity. The emerging oxidase activity was fully sensitive to iodonium biphenyl, a potent inhibitor of the respiratory burst, whereas the diaphorase activity was not affected. Addition of 0.1% Triton X-100 or an excess of arachidonic acid, acting as detergent, resulted in the reappearance of the diaphorase activity at the expense of the oxidase activity. These results indicate that the diaphorase-oxidase transition is reversible. When the rabbit neutrophil membranes were supplemented with rabbit neutrophil cytosol, guanosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate and Mg2+, in addition to arachidonic acid, not only the NADPH diaphorase activity disappeared, but the emerging NADPH oxidase activity was markedly enhanced (about 10 times compared to that of membranes treated with arachidonic acid alone). The diaphorase-oxidase transition was accompanied by a 10-fold increase in the Km for NADPH, suggesting a change of conformation propagated to the NADPH-binding site during the transition. The treatment of PMA-activated rabbit neutrophils with cross-linking reagents, like glutaraldehyde or 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethyl carbodiimide, prevented the loss of the PMA-elicited oxidase activity upon disruption of the cells by sonication, suggesting that the interactions between the components of the oxidase complex are stabilized by cross-linking.

Characterization of multiple active forms of the NADPH dehydrogenase component of the oxidase complex from rabbit peritoneal neutrophils by photolabeling with an arylazido derivative of NADP+

A NADPH cytochrome c oxidoreductase purified from membranes of rabbit peritoneal neutrophil was shown to behave as the NADPH dehydrogenase component of the O2- generating oxidase complex. A photoactivable derivative of NADP+, azido nitrophenyl-gamma-aminobutyryl NADP+ (NAP4-NADP+), was synthesized in its labeled [3H] form and used to photolabel the NADPH cytochrome c reductase at different stages of the purification procedure. Control assays performed in dim light indicated that the reduced form of NADP4-NADP+ generated by reduction with glucose-6-phosphate and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was oxidized at virtually the same rate as NADPH. Upon photoirradiation of the purified reductase in the presence of [3H]NAP4-NADP+ and subsequent separation of the photolabeled species by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, radioactivity was found to be present predominantly in a protein band with a molecular mass of 77-kDa and accessorily in bands of 67-kDa and 57-kDa. Evidence is provided that the 67-kDa and 57-kDa proteins arose from the 77-kDa protein by proteolysis. Despite removal of part of the sequence, the proteolyzed proteins were still active in catalyzing electron transport from NADPH to cytochrome c and in binding the photoactivable derivative of NADP+.

Properties of the NADPH dehydrogenase component of the oxidase complex from rabbit peritoneal neutrophils: reconstitution of an oxidase activity with the dehydrogenase component and a membrane extract

A flavin-linked NADPH cytochrome c oxido-reductase of molecular mass 77-kDa was extracted from membranes of rabbit peritoneal neutrophils and purified in the presence of Triton X-100. The redox properties of this enzyme were examined. By some criteria including its high sensitivity to mersalyl, and its relatively high specificity for NADPH compared to NADH, the rabbit neutrophil NADPH cytochrome c reductase resembled NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase. Limited proteolysis generated water soluble fragments, with molecular masses of 67-kDa and 57-kDa, which were still endowed with a substantial reductase activity. When added to a lysate of neutrophil membranes in octylglucoside, in the presence of an oxidase activation medium consisting of rabbit neutrophil cytosol, GTP-gamma-S, arachidonic acid and Mg2+, the purified reductase enhanced the production of O2-., suggesting that it forms part of the O2-. generating oxidase.

Protein phosphorylation associated with the stimulation of neutrophils. Modulation of superoxide production by protein kinase C and calcium

Neutrophils and other phagocytic cells of the immune system possess a superoxide-generating oxidase system which is essential for the efficient killing of microbes. The system is activated by a wide variety of stimuli, some of which operate through pathways involving protein kinase C (PKC), while others appear not to. The PKC-dependent pathway is probably the major signal transduction route for most of the stimuli. Alterations in cellular Ca2+ and diglyceride levels can have a pronounced stimulatory effect on this pathway by their ability to synergistically activate PKC. This review discusses PKC, the different interactions of this kinase with the plasmalemma that are important in superoxide production, the synergy between Ca2+ and diglyceride, and the nature of the phosphoproteins involved. Evidence supporting the existence of the PKC-independent pathway is also reviewed.

Purification and some properties of the 45 kDa diphenylene iodonium-binding flavoprotein of neutrophil NADPH oxidase

The 45 kDa diphenylene iodonium-binding flavoprotein of the human neutrophil superoxide-generating oxidase has been purified by affinity chromatography. The polypeptide was eluted from Blue Memsep or 2',5'-ADP-agarose columns with either NADP or low concentrations of the specific inhibitor diphenylene iodonium. The purified protein was shown to bind FAD at a ratio of 1.09 mol of FAD/mol of protein. The reconstituted flavoprotein had a fluorescence spectrum similar, but not identical, to that of free FAD. It had an isoelectric point of approx. 4.0. The reconstituted flavoprotein displayed no diaphorase activity towards a range of artificial electron acceptors. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the pure protein inhibited superoxide generation by solubilized oxidase in a dose-dependent manner, and inhibited superoxide generation when incubated with either cytosol or membrane fractions in a reconstituted system. These antibodies precipitated the 45 kDa polypeptide together with a haem-containing 23 kDa protein thought to be the small subunit of cytochrome b-245. Antibodies raised against cytochrome P-450 reductase also precipitated these two polypeptides. These results are consistent with the 45 kDa polypeptide being the flavoprotein of the neutrophil superoxide-generating oxidase.

Indications to an NADPH oxidase as a possible pO2 sensor in the rat carotid body

The rat carotid body superfused with low pO2 exhibited an optical absorbance spectrum which resembles the reduced spectrum of the NADPH oxidase in neutrophils. Diphenylene iodonium (DPI) as a specific inhibitor of the oxidase attenuated the reduced absorbance spectrum in the carotid body. Also absorbance bleaching by low doses of cyanide (50 and 100 microM) was inhibited by DPI, whereas higher doses of cyanide (300 microM) caused an absorbance spectrum typical for reduced cytochromes. It is concluded that an NADPH oxidase acts as a pO2 sensor in the carotid body with low affinity for oxygen and high affinity for cyanide.