Identification of the NADPH-binding subunit of the respiratory burst oxidase.

The respiratory burst oxidase is a multicomponent membrane-bound enzyme that uses NADPH to reduce oxygen to O2-. When oxidase-containing membranes from activated neutrophils are treated with 0.3 M KCl, the NADPH-binding component of the oxidase elutes from the membranes in an active form. Treatment of this eluate with [32P]NADPH dialdehyde labels an approximately 32-kDa protein that is absent from eluates obtained from normal resting membranes or from resting or activated membranes from patients with one form of chronic granulomatous disease. We propose that this approximately 32-kDa protein is the NADPH-binding component of the oxidase.