[Formation of signal ATP in plasma membranes of polymorphonuclear leukocytes activated by formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine].

Energy-consuming, ATP-dependent step of transmembrane transmission of the signal for chemotaxis was studied at the pathway between receptors of formylpeptide and membrane kinase of polymorphonuclears leukocytes. Some peptides, particularly formylmethionyl leucylphenylalanine (FMLP), were demonstrated to have a property of chemostimulation, i.e. they had an ability to stimulate phagocytosis in human and animal neutrophils due to presence of specific receptors on the cell surface. Isolation, identification and use of the membrane ATP, synthesized in presence of the chemotactic peptide FMLP, is described. The ATP was produced within 1 min on the surface of polymorphonuclear leukocytes during aerobic phosphorylation from ADP and inorganic phosphate, coupled with transmission of electrons and protons. The ATP-producing activity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes, stimulated by the formylpeptide, was distinctly decreased in the patients with various forms of purulent surgical infections--sepsis, pyo-resorptive fever. The ATP, synthesized in plasmatic membranes of polymorphonuclear leukocytes, appears to serve as a translator of the chemotactic, energy-consuming signal.