The Journal of General Physiology
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Published 24 November 2003. doi:10.1085/jgp.200308891
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© Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1295/2003/12/713/ $5.00
Journal of General Physiology, Volume 122, Number 6, December 2003 713-726

Interactions between Electron and Proton Currents in Excised Patches from Human Eosinophils

Gábor L. Petheö1, Andrés Maturana1, András Spät2 and Nicolas Demaurex1

1 Department of Physiology, University of Geneva Medical Center, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
2 Department of Physiology and Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Semmelweis University and Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1444 Budapest, Hungary

Address correspondence to Dr. Nicolas Demaurex, Department of Physiology, University of Geneva Medical Center, 1 Michel-Servet, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland. Fax: (41) 22-379-5402; email: Nicolas.Demaurex{at}medecine.unige.ch

The NADPH–oxidase is a plasma membrane enzyme complex that enables phagocytes to generate superoxide in order to kill invading pathogens, a critical step in the host defense against infections. The oxidase transfers electrons from cytosolic NADPH to extracellular oxygen, a process that requires concomitant H+ extrusion through depolarization-activated H+ channels. Whether H+ fluxes are mediated by the oxidase itself is controversial, but there is a general agreement that the oxidase and H+ channel are intimately connected. Oxidase activation evokes profound changes in whole-cell H+ current (IH), causing an approximately -40-mV shift in the activation threshold that leads to the appearance of inward IH. To further explore the relationship between the oxidase and proton channel, we performed voltage-clamp experiments on inside-out patches from both resting and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-activated human eosinophils. Proton currents from resting cells displayed slow voltage-dependent activation, long-term stability, and were blocked by micromolar internal [Zn2+]. IH from PMA-treated cells activated faster and at lower voltages, enabling sustained H+ influx, but ran down within minutes, regaining the current properties of nonactivated cells. Bath application of NADPH to patches excised from PMA-treated cells evoked electron currents (Ie), which also ran down within minutes and were blocked by diphenylene iodonium (DPI). Run-down of both IH and Ie was delayed, and sometimes prevented, by cytosolic ATP and GTP-{gamma}-S. A good correlation was observed between the amplitude of Ie and both inward and outward IH when a stable driving force for e- was imposed. Combined application of NADPH and DPI reduced the inward IH amplitude, even in the absence of concomitant oxidase activity. The strict correlation between Ie and IH amplitudes and the sensitivity of IH to oxidase-specific agents suggest that the proton channel is either part of the oxidase complex or linked by a membrane-limited mediator.

Key Words: physiology • NADPH–oxidase • zinc • phagocyte • patch-clamp


The online version of this paper contains supplemental material.

Abbreviations used in this paper: CGD, chronic granulomatous disease; DPI, diphenylene iodonium chloride; NADPH, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate; NBT, p-nitro-blue tetrazolium chloride; phox, phagocyte oxidase.

1 The empirical equations that can be applied to estimate the H+ current threshold potential (Ethreshold) under different EH (Erev) conditions in resting and PMA treated eosinophils are Ethreshold = 0.79 Erev + 23 mV and Ethreshold = 0.63 Erev - 22 mV, respectively (DeCoursey, 2003).

2 The ability of NBT to capture electrons directly from the oxidase (Briggs et al., 1975) might also account for the increased correlation and larger e- currents observed in the presence of NBT.


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