Neutrophils convert tyrosyl residues in albumin to chlorotyrosine.

Hypochlorous acid chlorinates tyrosyl residues in small peptides to produce chlorotyrosine. Detection of chlorotyrosine has the potential to unequivocally identify the contribution hypochlorous acid makes to inflammation. I have developed a selective and sensitive HPLC assay for measuring chlorotyrosine. When albumin was exposed to reagent hypochlorous acid, or that produced by myeloperoxidase and stimulated neutrophils, tyrosyl residues in the protein were converted to chlorotyrosine. About 2% of the hypochlorous acid generated by neutrophils was accounted for by the formation of chlorotyrosine. These results demonstrate that chlorotyrosine will be a useful marker for establishing a role for hypochlorous acid in host defence and inflammation.