Subcellular localization of the human neutrophil NADPH oxidase. b-Cytochrome and associated flavoprotein.

Human neutrophils were fractionated by nitrogen cavitation and Percoll density centrifugation, and the subcellular localization of FAD-flavoprotein, b-cytochrome, NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase, and NADPH-dependent cytochrome c reductase were determined in normal cells, cells from two patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), and normal cells that had been stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate. In normal cells, a FAD-flavoprotein is found in a 1:2 molar ratio, with cytochrome b in the fractions containing the specific granules. Triton X-114 phase distribution indicates that the b-cytochrome but not the b-cytochrome-associated flavoprotein is an integral membrane protein. 80% of this flavoprotein, as well as all the b-cytochrome, was absent in these fractions from 2 CGD patients, although these patients had normal quantities of FAD in the fractions containing plasma membranes and cytosol. During stimulation the b-cytochrome-associated flavoprotein of the granules translocates with the b-cytochrome to the plasma membrane where NADPH oxidase is localized. Definition of the role of these NADPH oxidase constituents may provide a molecular description of the normal neutrophil respiratory burst and the molecular defect(s) in CGD.