Identification and cloning of the SNARE proteins VAMP-2 and syntaxin-4 from HL-60 cells and human neutrophils.

Degranulation and membrane fusion by neutrophils are essential to host defense. We sought homologues of neuron-specific fusion proteins in human neutrophils and in their precursors, the promyelocytic cell line HL-60. We screened a differentiated HL-60 library and obtained an 848 bp sequence with a 351 bp open reading frame, identical to that published for human VAMP-2 and including 5' and 3' untranslated regions. RNA from HL-60 cells during differentiation into the neutrophil lineage was subjected to Northern blot analysis. which revealed a transcript of approximately 1050 bp at all stages of differentiation. The amount of these transcripts increased approximately threefold during differentiation, a finding confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR. We also detected mRNA for VAMP-2 in human neutrophils and monocytes using RT-PCR. In like fashion, transcripts of syntaxin-4, another fusion protein, were recovered from a neutrophil cDNA library. As with VAMP-2, expression of syntaxin-4 (determined by Northern blots) also increased, but by only 50%, during differentiation of HL-60 cells. These studies demonstrate that neutrophils and their progenitors possess mRNA for the fusion proteins VAMP-2 and syntaxin-4, and that their transcription increases during differentiation, concurrent with the functional maturation of myeloid cells.

Identification of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase as a Ca2+-dependent fusogen in human neutrophil cytosol.

The membrane fusion events observed during neutrophil degranulation are important aspects of the immunoregulatory system. In an attempt to understand the regulation of granule-plasma membrane fusion, we have begun characterizing human neutrophil cytosol for fusion activity, finding that 50% of the fusogenic activity could be attributed to members of the annexin family of proteins. The major non-annexin fusion activity (25% of the total cytosolic activity) was enriched by ion exchange chromatography after depletion of annexins by Ca2+-dependent phospholipid affinity chromatography. The fusion activity co-purified with a 10,14-kDa dimer identified as leukocyte L1 (which was non-fusogenic), along with an approximately 36-kDa protein. This protein was identified as glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) by amino-terminal sequencing, and the fusion activity was verified using commercially available GAPDH. GAPDH may play an important role in degranulation because it is as potent as annexin I on a mass basis and may constitute up to 25% of the total cytosolic fusion activity of the neutrophil.

Phospholipase D activity facilitates Ca2+-induced aggregation and fusion of complex liposomes.

Phospholipase D (PLD) activation in stimulated neutrophils results in the conversion of membrane phosphatidylcholine (PC) to phosphatidic acid (PA). This change in membrane phospholipid composition has two potentially positive effects on degranulation. It 1) replaces a nonfusogenic phospholipid with a fusogenic one and 2) increases the potential for interactions between membranes and the annexins. Modeling neutrophil degranulation, we examined the effect of PLD (Streptomyces chromofuscus) hydrolysis on the aggregation and fusion of liposomes in the presence and absence of annexin I. We found that PLD-mediated conversion of PC to PA lowered the [Ca2+] required for fusion. Annexin I increased the rate of fusion in the presence of PA, although it did not lower threshold [Ca2+], which remained above the physiological range. However, after hydrolysis by PLD, annexin I lowered the [Ca2+] required for aggregation by almost three orders of magnitude, to near physiological concentrations. These studies indicate that the activation of PLD and the production of PA may play a role in annexin-mediated membrane-membrane apposition.

PLA2 promotes fusion between PMN-specific granules and complex liposomes.

Neutrophil stimulation results in the activation of a variety of phospholipases, including phospholipase A2 (PLA2), which releases arachidonic acid from the 2 position of membrane phospholipids, leaving a lysophospholipid. Because arachidonic acid is known to be a potent fusogen in vitro, we examined the effect of metabolism by PLA2 on the fusion of complex liposomes (liposomes prepared with a phospholipid composition similar to that found in neutrophil plasma membrane). We observed that PLA2 augmented the fusion of complex liposomes with each other as well as with specific granules isolated from human neutrophils, lowering the Ca2+ requirement for fusion by three orders of magnitude. Furthermore, although lysophospholipids inhibited fusion, the incorporation of arachidonic acid into liposome membranes overcame the inhibitory effects of the lysophospholipids. Thus with PLA2 and annexins we were able to obtain fusion of complex liposomes at concentrations of Ca2+ that are close to physiological. Our data suggest that the activation of PLA2 and the generation of arachidonic acid may be the major fusion-promoting event mediating neutrophil degranulation.

Development of an aqueous-space mixing assay for fusion of granules and plasma membranes from human neutrophils.

Several models have been developed to study neutrophil degranulation. At the most basic level, phospholipid vesicles have been used to investigate the lipid interactions occurring during membrane fusion. The two major forms of assays used to measure phospholipid vesicle fusion are based either on the dilution of tagged phospholipids within the membrane of the two fusing partners or the mixing of the aqueous contents of the vesicles. Although problems exist with both methods, the latter is considered to be more accurate and representative of true fusion. Using 8-aminonaphthalene-1,3,6-trisulphonic acid (ANTS) as a fluorescent marker, we have taken advantage of the quenching properties of p-xylenebispyridinium bromide ('DPX') to develop a simple aqueous-space mixing assay that can be used with any sealed vesicle. We compared our new assay with more conventional assays using liposomes composed of phosphatidic acid (PA) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), obtaining comparable results with respect to Ca2+-dependent fusion. We extended our studies to measure the fusion of neutrophil plasma-membrane vesicles as well as azurophil and specific granules with PA/PE (1:3) liposomes. Both specific granules and plasma-membrane vesicles fused with PA/PE liposomes at [Ca2+] as low as 500 microM, while azurophil granules showed no fusion at [Ca2+] as high as 12 mM. These differences in the ability of Ca2+ to induce fusion may be related to differences observed in whole cells with respect to secretion.

Effect of calcium on phenothiazine inhibition of neutrophil degranulation.

The phenothiazines are known to be potent inhibitors of calmodulin and have been used as probes for examining calmodulin-dependent cellular functions. We report here that the characteristics of phenothiazine inhibition of exocytosis in neutrophils more closely resemble their interaction with the annexins in vitro. Ca(2+)-dependent aggregation of liposomes mediated by either annexin I or annexin II was inhibited by the phenothiazines. Inhibition of liposome aggregation was not caused by interference with the binding of annexins to phospholipids. Rather, the phenothiazines increased the concentration of Ca2+ required for aggregation. Likewise, in neutrophils permeabilized with streptolysin O, inhibition of degranulation by phenothiazines could be overcome by increasing [Ca2+]. These results suggest that inhibition by phenothiazines of neutrophil degranulation is secondary to the ability of these compounds to inhibit membrane-membrane contact promoted by the annexins.