Department of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts
Correspondence: Elizabeth R. Simons, Ph.D., or John Bernardo, M.D., R-304, Boston University School of Medicine, 80 E. Concord Street, Boston, MA 02118. E-mails: esimons@bu.edu or jbernardo{at}lung.bumc.bu.edu
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Key Words: calcium channels Fc receptors pH regulation flow cytometry
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Furthermore, using similar techniques and stimuli, we have demonstrated that the microbicidal functions of the cell can proceed in the absence of the normal, large transient increase in [Ca2+]i, suggesting that Ca2+i itself is not serving a second messenger function in this system [11 ]. Grinstein and his colleagues [10 ] have shown that changes in [Ca2+]i also do not affect the Na+/H+ antiport responsible for maintaining intracellular pH. In contrast to the extensive studies of the role of Ca2+, it has not yet been shown whether the pHi changes that accompany such Ca2+ transients play a role in the regulation of the phagocytes killing processes or rather, whether they represent a concurrent, nonregulatory phenomenon [5 , 6 , 11 , 12 ].
Several pH-regulating systems have been identified in phagocytes. These include an electroneutral, amiloride-inhibitable Na+/H+ antiport [10 , 13 14 15 16 17 ] of the NHE-1 isoform [18 ], two types of Cl-/HCO3- exchangers [13 ], and an adenosine 5'-triphosphate-dependent proton pump that can extrude protons from the cell and acidify phagovacuolar compartments [19 ]. The anion and cation exchangers appear to be the major mechanisms by which cellular pH is maintained in acidic environments, such as inflammatory sites. In turn, regulation of pH and pH changes within the cytoplasm of activated cells may be critical to the generation of an optimal pH in phagosomes [1 ].
Intracellular pH changes in human neutrophils following IC stimulation consist of an early, rapid acidification followed by a slower, cytoplasmic alkalinization [15 , 16 ]. The former is attributable to the generation of phosphatidic acid via the activation of phospholipase D [6 , 12 ], and realkalinization has been attributed largely to the Na+/H+ antiport thought to be triggered by cytoplasmic acidification [15 , 16 ]. The relation, if any, of the pHi response to IC and to changes in [Ca2+]i remains undefined, although current evidence suggests that changes in pH play a significant role in degranulation [1 , 6 , 12 ].
Previous studies of stimulus-induced, cellular pHi changes have used spectrofluorimetric techniques that record averaged values for selected activation parameters in suspended populations of cells [16 ]. In contrast, multiparameter flow cytometry permits the analysis of several intracellular events simultaneously in real-time following engagement of a phagocytic stimulus [5 , 7 8 9 ].
In the present study, we use flow cytometry to examine the relationships between the changes in [Ca2+]i and cellular pH in immune complex-stimulated human neutrophils. We show here, using cell-by-cell analysis, that pHi and [Ca2+]i changes proceed simultaneously (or, as a result of the limitations of our measurements, within <4 s of each other) in the same responding neutrophil population following IC stimulation. Taken together with our earlier finding that a calcium transient is not required [11 ], this implies that pHi and not [Ca2+] may control subsequent neutrophil effector functions such as degranulation and oxidative burst. Furthermore, we demonstrate here a new, voltage-independent Ca2+/H+ exchanger that contributes to cellular realkalinization following cell stimulation by IC, acting together with a Na+-dependent H+ change within the cells cytoplasm.
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Inhibitors of H+ transport
Bafilomycin A1 stock (25 µM) was prepared in dry dimethylsulfoxide, and 10 µl was added to 1 ml BCECF and indo-1-loaded polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN; 106/ml) at 37°C and was kept stirring in Krebs-Ringer phosphate (KRP) for 2 min before addition of 120 µg/ml IC. A similar procedure was followed with concanamycin A, whose stock was prepared at 10 µM. We found that ZnCl2 at concentrations higher than 2 µM caused the PMN to clump, and therefore we used that final concentration prepared from 200 µM stock in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS).
Neutrophil isolation
Human PMN obtained from healthy volunteers were purified as previously described [20
] and were kept in PBS, pH 7.4 (125 mM NaCl, 2 mM NaH2PO4, 8 mM Na2HPO4, 5 mM KCl, 5 mM glucose), on a rocking platform at 4°C until needed.
Stimulus preparation
Multivalent IC were prepared as the insoluble portion of a fourfold molar excess of rabbit anti-BSA: BSA incubated and then isolated as previously described [5
].
[Ca2+]i measurements
[Ca2+]i concentration was measured as previously described [8
] using indo-1, the stimulus being injected after a 2-min incubation at 37°C in KRP buffer (PBS plus 0.9 mM CaCl2 and 1.5 mM MgCl2), which has been shown to allow stimulation of the neutrophils without permitting replenishment of their intracellular Ca2+ stores [11
].
pHi measurements
pHi was measured using BCECF-loaded neutrophils, as previously described [11
] and was measured on a Becton Dickinson FACS 440 flow cytometer. Although, in principle, BCECF can be used as a ratiometric pH probe, the FACS 440 did not permit us an excitation at 450 nm (the pH-independent excitation wavelength). We were only able to excite at the pH-dependent 488 nm wavelength (emission at 530 nm) and recorded data as % of maximal emission at t = 0, i.e., normalizing to allow for any differences in BCECF concentration; our pHi calibrations [11
] have shown the pHi of neutrophils at t = 0 to be 7.0.
Stimulus responses
Neutrophil stimulus responses were measured on the FACS 440 flow cytometer equipped with thermostating, stirring, and injection devices [5
, 7
8
9
]. Data were collected at t = 0 and every 4000 cells (
7 s) thereafter. Verification of these responses and of the calibration curve obtained previously [11
] was also obtained on a Hitachi 4500 fluorimeter.
Depolarization of neutrophils
Depolarization of neutrophils was accomplished as previously described [20
] using PRK, an isotonic buffer in which Na+ was largely replaced by K+ (25 mM NaCl, 120 mM KCl, 0.9 mM CaCl2, 1.5 mM MgCl2). Depolarization was verified by using the membrane potential cyanine probe diSC3 [5
], as described in that publication, on a Hitachi 4500 spectrofluorimeter. Instrumental limitations did not permit simultaneous measurement of membrane potentials and pH in the FACS 440.
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Figure 1. Dependence of [Ca2+]i and pHi on stimulus concentration. (a and c) Ungated; (b and d) gated so that only responding cells are included. (a and b) % of Maximal [Ca2+]i observed for 120 µg/ml IC; (c and d) % of maximal pHi observed for 120 µg/ml IC. All studies were performed in KRP as described in Materials and Methods. Figure is representative of 310 separate experiments.
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Role of Na+/H+ antiport in neutrophil
[Ca2+]i and pHi response
Dimethylamiloride (DMA), a specific Na+/H+ antiport-blocking agent [14
], did not alter the neutrophils Ca2+ response to 120 µg/ml IC in KRP (i.e., in the presence of 145 mM Na+) but did, at doses from 50 to 200 µM DMA, inhibit the realkalinization of the cells that normally occurs approximately 1 min after stimulation (Fig. 2a
and 2b
). As the highest DMA dose of 200 µM appeared to perturb other cellular functions, we used 100 µM DMA for all subsequent studies.
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Figure 2. Effect of DMA, a Na+/H+ antiport-blocking agent on pHi. (a) Effect of DMA on [Ca2+]i; (b) effect of DMA on % of maximal pHi. All studies were performed in KRP as described in Materials and Methods. Figure is representative of 310 separate experiments.
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[Ca2+]i and pHi responses
[Ca2+]i response mediated via the chemotactic receptor (Fig. 3
and ref. [11
]) but reduced and retarded the responses via the Fc receptor-mediated pathways by approximately 30%. These data support our previous findings [6
] of specific mechanistic differences between the activation pathways mediated by these two classes of neutrophil receptors. The indication that both pathways lead to a final [Ca2+]i 2.5 min after stimulation was initiated which is lower in the absence than in the presence of extracellular Ca2+, implies the presence of an influx into the stimulated cells from the extracellular milieu via one of the calcium channels.
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Figure 3. Effect of extracellular Ca2+ chelation with EGTA on [Ca2+]i and pHi. Neutrophils were stimulated with 100 nM fMLP (a and c) or 120 µg/ml IC (b and d) with or without addition of 1 or 5 mM EGTA 15 s before the stimulus. All studies were performed in KRP as described in Materials and Methods. Figure is representative of 310 separate experiments.
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Role of extracellular Na+ in neutrophil [Ca2+]i and pHi responses in the presence or absence of extracellular Ca2+
As shown in Figure 4
, when extracellular Na+ is totally replaced by choline (112 mM choline chloride, 2 mM KH2PO4, 8 mM K2HPO4, 55 mM sucrose, pH 7.4pH adjusted with KOH), thereby altering all Na+-involving mechanisms without depolarizing the cells [20
], the initial acidification remains, but the subsequent alkalinization is suppressed and is followed, approximately 1 min after stimulation is initiated (a time corresponding to the start of degranulation; refs. [21
, 22
]), by acidification of the cells cytoplasm. This acidification is already apparent after just 30 s if extracellular Ca2+ has been chelated, i.e., if loss of H+ via a Ca2+/H+ exchange has been prevented, but the phospholipase D-mediated acidification remains unperturbed [6
, 12
]. In the absence of extracellular Na+ and Ca2+, the acidification is significantly greater than in their presence (compare Fig. 4
, a and b), as neither the classic Na+/H+ antiport nor the novel Ca2+/H+ channel we describe here can function. In PRK, an isotonic buffer in which the extracellular K+ matches its intracellular concentration, and the membrane potential drops from -75 to approximately -30 mV [20
], the effect of EGTA is comparable with that in KRP (Fig. 5
), implying little or no voltage-dependence of the Ca2+/H+ exchanger.
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Figure 4. Effect of extracellular Na+ replacement by choline on pHi. pHi Response to stimulation of PMN by 120 µg/ml IC in (a) PBS ([Na+]=145 mM) or (b) choline buffer ([Na+]=0 mM) in the presence of 5 mM EGTA and/or 100 mM DMA. Figure is representative of 310 separate experiments.
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Figure 5. Effect of depolarization on the novel Ca2+/H+ channel. (a) [Ca2+]i and (b) pHi in response to 120 µg/ml IC were measured for neutrophils incubated in KRP or PRK (a depolarizing buffer) with/without addition of 5 mM EGTA 15 s before the stimulus. Figure is representative of 310 separate experiments.
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Is the novel Ca2+/H+ channel voltage-dependent?
To answer this question, we investigated the Ca2+ and H+ responses of neutrophils in the depolarizing buffer PRK (120 mM KCl, 25 mM NaCl, 8 mM Na2HPO4, pH 7.4) in comparison with KRP (125 mM NaCl, 8 mM Na2HPO4, 5 mM KCl, pH 7.4) [20
]. Comparing Figures 3 and 5
, it is clear that the [Ca2+]i transient is considerably lower, and the Na+/H+-mediated alkalinization is abolished when the membrane potential is reduced from -75 to -30 mV [20
], and the [Na+] is reduced from 145 to 25 mM. The acidification effect of extracellular Ca2+ chelation per se is apparent after 15 s and is similar in the presence of 145 or 25 mM extracellular Na+. This implies that the Ca2+/H+ channel may be [Na+]-dependent.
Effect of inhibitors of the Na+/H+ antiport versus classic Ca2+ channels
In contrast to the effect of DMA (Fig. 2)
, the classic Ca2+ channel inhibitors verapamil and nifedipene, at concentrations of 10 and 100 µM, had no effect on the [Ca2+]i or pHi responses (Fig. 6a
and 6b
). These findings imply that the novel Ca2+/H+ channel does not respond to inhibition by nifedipene or verapamil, inhibitors of some but not all mammalian Ca2+ channels.
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Figure 6. Effect of Ca2+ channel-blocking agents on the Ca2+/H+ channel. (a) [Ca2+]i and (b) pHi were measured for neutrophils stimulated with 120 µg/ml IC in the absence or presence of 5 mM EGTA added 15 s before the stimulus or of 10 or 100 µM verapamil (ver) or nifedipene (nif) added 1 min before the stimulus. All studies were performed in KRP as described in Materials and Methods. Figure is representative of 310 separate experiments.
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Figure 7. Effect of inhibitors of H+ transport. pHi response of BCECF-loaded PMN to 120 g/ml IC in the presence of inhibitors of H+ transport and (a) absence or (b) presence of 5 mM EGTA added 15 s before the stimulus. Inhibitors are 250 nM bafilomycin A1 (BAF), 100 nM concanamycin A (CON), or 2 µM ZnCl2. Figure is representative of 310 separate experiments. DMSO, Dimethyl sulfoxide.
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In three separate studies of phagosomal pH changes and their role in phagocyte killing [24 25 26 ], we have shown that Cryptococcus neoformans survives in a very acidic phagosome but is destroyed by the phagocytes oxidative and lytic activities when the phagosomes pH is raised. As an acidic cytoplasm leads, by H+ exchange across the plasma membrane, to a more acidic phagosome, the natural destructive oxidative and lytic capabilities, which are the phagocytes effector functions, will be enhanced when its cytoplasm is less acidic. The relative importance of oxidative versus lytic activities initiated by neutrophil granule contents is still subject to some controversy [1 , 21 ], but it seems agreed that the phagosomal pH plays a critical role in the bactericidal and fungicidal functions of neutrophils [22 , 27 28 29 ].
Therefore, we conclude that not only the Na+/H+ antiport and the various proton channels and pumps but also the novel Ca2+/H+ channel we describe here perform this alkalinizing function. In addition, the channel permits replenishment of the phagocytes intracellular Ca2+, although the function of this replenishment is less obvious, as it does not appear to be necessary for the effector functions to proceed [6 , 10 11 12 ].
Received April 6, 2002; revised August 22, 2002; accepted August 29, 2002.
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RII and Fc
RIII in immune complex stimulation of human neutrophils, J Biol. Chem. 267,20659-20666
R subclasses Fc
RII and Fc
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