An inherited defect of neutrophil motility and microfilamentous cytoskeleton associated with abnormalities in 47-Kd and 89-Kd proteins.

A 2-month-old male Tongan infant presented with fever, severe skin and mucosal infections, hepatosplenomegaly, thrombocytopenia, and normal neutrophil counts. While polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) morphology was normal, several neutrophil motile functions were found to be altered in the patient. Furthermore, two siblings had died in infancy with a similar clinical picture, raising the possibility of an inherited neutrophil defect. Random migration and chemotaxis, assessed by the under agarose method, were profoundly impaired. Actin polymerization, as measured by flow cytometry of N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)phallacidin (NBD-phallacidin)-stained PMNs, showed lower basal F-actin and a 1.75-fold increase in response to 10(-7) mol/L formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) compared with a 4.51-fold increase in control. Microscopic examination of NBD-phallacidin-stained PMN spread on glass showed decreased area of spreading and F-actin-rich filamentous projections distinct from control. The early phase of FMLP-induced right angle light scattering was absent, similar to the effect caused by cytochalasin-B (CB), an inhibitor of actin polymerization. Accordingly, FMLP induced secretion of elastase without the addition of CB. Staphylococcus aureus killing was 50% of control whereas superoxide production response to FMLP and surface expression of CD11b were greater than twice normal. Partial defects in actin polymerization and scatter were seen in the parents and release of elastase, in the absence of CB, was also increased in both parents. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide electrophoresis of whole cell proteins from the patient showed a marked decrease in an 89-Kd protein (8% of control) and a marked increase in a 47-Kd protein (4.2-fold). Both mother and father had decreased 89-Kd (77% and 42% of control) and increased 47-Kd proteins (2- and 3.4-fold), although neither had recurrent infections or chemotactic defects. These studies describe a new inherited actin dysfunction syndrome associated with severe propensity to fungal infection and draw attention to the proteins of apparent molecular weights of 89 Kd and 47 Kd, which may be of great importance in the regulation of actin polymerization in human PMNs.