Skip to main content
The Journal of Cell Biology logoLink to The Journal of Cell Biology
. 1974 Sep 1;62(3):625–634. doi: 10.1083/jcb.62.3.625

MODIFICATION OF ZYMOSAN-INDUCED RELEASE OF LYSOSOMAL ENZYMES FROM HUMAN POLYMORPHONUCLEAR LEUKOCYTES BY CYTOCHALASIN B

John L Skosey 1, Evelyn Damgaard 1, Donald Chow 1, Leif B Sorensen 1
PMCID: PMC2109208  PMID: 4853241

Abstract

During the process of phagocytosis, polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) release lysosomal enzymes into the extracellular medium. When the antibiotic cytochalasin B (CB) is present in the incubation medium along with phagocytable particles, enhanced recovery of enzyme activities from the incubation medium has been observed. These findings have led to the interpretation that CB enhances lysosomal enzyme release. Our results contradict this interpretation. The lysosomal enzymes acid phosphatase and β-galactosidase are unstable after they are released from cells. During the first 5–15 min of phagocytosis, significant amounts of both acid phosphatase and β-galactosidase can be recovered from the extracellular medium. After this, the recovery of enzyme from the medium declines, presumably because the rate of loss of lysosomal enzyme activity exceeds the rate of release at later time periods. In the presence of CB, the appearance of lysosomal enzymes in the extracellular medium of cells exposed to zymosan is retarded for 5–10 min, after which it begins and then continues for approximately 20 min. At the end of a 30-min incubation period, therefore, in the absence of CB, extracellular levels of lysosomal enzymes (especially those which are unstable) are declining toward low levels while, in the presence of CB, extracellular enzyme levels are continuing to rise. We also measured the lysosomal enzyme remaining within cells after exposure to zymosan. CB retarded the disappearance of enzyme from cells and resulted in significantly less total cell enzyme loss. Thus, in the presence of CB, a greater proportion of the lysosomal enzyme lost from cells is recovered in the extracellular medium. In contrast to the previous conclusions that CB enhances lysosomal enzyme release, our results indicate that CB delays and decreases the zymosan-stimulated release of lysosomal enzymes from PMN. Since CB inhibits phagocytosis by PMN, our results indicate that the antibiotic modifies the mechanism of release of lysosomal enzymes, resulting in zymosan stimulation of their release independently of phagocytosis.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (658.5 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baehner R. L., Karnovsky M. J., Karnovsky M. L. Degranulation of leukocytes in chronic granulomatous disease. J Clin Invest. 1969 Jan;48(1):187–192. doi: 10.1172/JCI105967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Berger R. R., Karnovsky M. L. Biochemical basis of phagocytosis. V. Effect of phagocytosis on cellular uptake of extracellular fluid, and on the intracellular pool of L-alpha-glycerophosphate. Fed Proc. 1966 May-Jun;25(3):840–845. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Davies P., Fox R. I., Polyzonis M., Allison A. C., Haswell A. D. The inhibition of phagocytosis and facilitation of exocytosis in rabbit polymorphonuclear leukocytes by cytochalasin B. Lab Invest. 1973 Jan;28(1):16–22. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Davis A. T., Estensen R., Quie P. G. Cytochalasin B. 3. Inhibition of human polymorphonuclear leukocyte phagocytosis. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1971 May;137(1):161–164. doi: 10.3181/00379727-137-35535. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hawkins D. Neutrophilic leukocytes in immunologic reactions in vitro: effect of cytochalasin B. J Immunol. 1973 Jan;110(1):294–296. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Henson P. M. Mechanisms of release of granule enzymes from human neutrophils phagocytosing aggregated immunoglobulin. An electron microscopic study. Arthritis Rheum. 1973 Mar-Apr;16(2):208–216. doi: 10.1002/art.1780160211. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Henson P. M., Oades Z. G. Enhancement of immunologically induced granule exocytosis from neutrophils by cytochalasin B. J Immunol. 1973 Jan;110(1):290–293. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Henson P. M. The immunologic release of constituents from neutrophil leukocytes. II. Mechanisms of release during phagocytosis, and adherence to nonphagocytosable surfaces. J Immunol. 1971 Dec;107(6):1547–1557. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Malawista S. E., Gee J. B., Bensch K. G. Cytochalasin B reversibly inhibits phagocytosis: functional, metabolic, and ultrastructural effects in human blood leukocytes and rabbit alveolar macrophages. Yale J Biol Med. 1971 Dec;44(3):286–300. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Skosey J. L., Chow D., Damgaard E., Sorensen L. B. Effect of cytochalasin B on response of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes to zymosan. J Cell Biol. 1973 Apr;57(1):237–240. doi: 10.1083/jcb.57.1.237. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Wright D. G., Malawista S. E. The mobilization and extracellular release of granular enzymes from human leukocytes during phagocytosis. J Cell Biol. 1972 Jun;53(3):788–797. doi: 10.1083/jcb.53.3.788. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Zigmond S. H., Hirsch J. G. Cytochalasin B: inhibition of D-2-deoxyglucose transport into leukocytes and fibroblasts. Science. 1972 Jun 30;176(4042):1432–1434. doi: 10.1126/science.176.4042.1432. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Zigmond S. H., Hirsch J. G. Effects of cytochalasin B on polymorphonuclear leucocyte locomotion, phagocytosis and glycolysis. Exp Cell Res. 1972 Aug;73(2):383–393. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(72)90062-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Zurier R. B., Hoffstein S., Weissmann G. Cytochalasin B: effect on lysosomal enzyme release from human leukocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Mar;70(3):844–848. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.3.844. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Cell Biology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES