Compartmentalization of cyclic AMP during phagocytosis by human neutrophilic granulocytes.

Immunocytochemistry shows that early during phagocytosis of zymosan, adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) appears on the cell surface before the phagosome is internalized. The appearance of cyclic AMP on the cell surface is coincident with that of granule products and regulatory subunit of type I cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. Guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate is not associated with the initiation site of phagocytosis, but is observed throughout the granular cytoplasmic region. This sharply localized accumulation of cyclic AMP may serve as a signal for the initiation of phagocytosis.