ESR signals from stimulated and resting porcine blood neutrophils

Electron paramagnetic resonance studies on cytochrome b-558 and peroxidases of pig blood granulocytes

Low-temperature electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometry on granulocytes prepared from pig blood was carried out with concentrated cellular and subcellular fractions to characterize EPR signals of cytochrome b-558 (cyt b-558). A thick cell suspension (approximately 2 x 10(9) cells/ml), containing mostly neutrophils, showed typical high-spin EPR signals due to myeloperoxidase (MPO) and a low spin signal at a g value of around 3.2. A similar thick granulocyte suspension containing eosinophils showed not only these signals but also low spin heme signals at g values of 2.86, 2.13, and 1.66, which have been reported to be of cyt b-558 (Ueno et al. 1991, FEBS Lett. 281, 130-132). MPO and eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) were released from the membrane fractions with 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing 1 M NaCl, and then were highly concentrated, in which no cyt b-558 was detected by absorption spectra. The signal at a g value of 2.86 was found only in the EPO fraction, suggesting that this signal is derived from a low-spin form of an EPO-complex, but neither from MPO nor cyt b-558. The O2(-)-forming NADPH oxidase associated in the membranes was solubilized with heptyl-thio-glucoside at 0 degree C and concentrated up to 45 microM cyt b-558 with no modification of the heme moiety confirmed by its O2(-)-generating activity and lack of carbon monoxide-binding capacity. Cyt b-558 showed an anisotropic signal at a g value of 3.2 +/- 0.05, which was cyanide-insensitive and reducible with reductants. The signal intensity was concentration dependent, suggesting that the g = 3.2 signal is characteristic of the low-spin heme iron in cyt b-558.

Cytochrome b-245 is a flavocytochrome containing FAD and the NADPH-binding site of the microbicidal oxidase of phagocytes

The NADPH oxidase of phagocytic cells is important for the efficient killing and digestion of ingested microbes. A very unusual low-potential cytochrome b (b-245) is the only redox molecule to have been identified in this system. The FAD-containing flavoprotein that binds NADPH and transfers electrons to the cytochrome has eluded identification for three decades. We show here that the haem/FAD ratio in the membranes does not change significantly on activation of this oxidase, indicating that the FAD is present in the membranes from the outset and not recruited from the cytosol. The FAD content of membranes from cells of patients with X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) lacking the cytochrome b was roughly one-quarter of that in normal subjects and in autosomal recessive CGD patients lacking the cytosolic protein p47-phox. Similar low amounts of FAD were present in uninduced promyelocytic (HL60) cells, suggesting that the low amount of FAD in cells from X-CGD patients was probably unrelated to this oxidase system. Cytochrome b-245 appears to bind both the haem and FAD, in a molar ratio of 2:1. The e.p.r. signal of the purified cytochrome was weak and had an asymmetric g(z) peak at g = 3.31. The purified cytochrome could be partially reflavinated (about 20%) in the presence of lipid. Amino acid sequence homology was detected between the beta-subunit of this cytochrome b and the ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase (FNR) family of reductases in the putative NADPH- and FAD-binding sites. 32P-labelled 2-azido-NADP was used as a photoaffinity label for the NADPH-binding site. Labelling that was competed off with NADP was observed in the region of the beta-subunit of the cytochrome. No labelling was seen in this region in X-CGD in three subjects in whom this cytochrome was missing and in a third in whom it was present but bore a Pro-His transposition in the putative NADPH-binding site. These studies indicate that cytochrome b-245 is a flavocytochrome, the first described in higher eukaryotic cells, bearing the complete electron-transporting apparatus of the NADPH oxidase.

Leukocytic oxygen activation and microbicidal oxidative toxins

Following a brief introduction of cellular response to stimulation comprising leukocyte activation, three major areas are discussed: (1) the neutrophil oxidase; (2) myeloperoxidase (MPO)-dependent oxidative microbicidal reactions; and (3) MPO-independent oxidative reactions. Topics included in section (A) are current views on the activation mechanism, redox composition, structural and topographic organization of the oxidase, and its respiratory products. In section (B), emphasis is placed on recent research on cidal mechanisms of HOCl, including the oxidative biochemistry of active chlorine compounds, identification of sites of lesions in bacteria, and attendant metabolic consequences. In section (C), we review the (bio)chemistry of H2O2 and .OH microbicidal reactions, with particular attention being given to addressing the controversial issue of probe methods to identify .OH radical and critical assessment of the recent proposal that MPO-independent killing arises from site-specific metal-catalyzed Fenton-type chemistry.