title: The mechanism of leukotriene B4 export from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.
abstract: Recently, we characterized the export of leukotriene (LT) C4 from human eosinophils as a carrier-mediated process (Lam, B. K., Owen, W. F., Jr., Austen, K. F., and Soberman, R. J. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 12885-12889). To determine whether a similar mechanism regulates the release of leukotriene B4 (LTB4), human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) were preloaded with LTB4 by incubation with 25 microM leukotriene A4 (LTA4) at 0 degrees C for 60 min. PMN converted LTA4 to LTB4 in a time-dependent manner as determined by resolution of products by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography and quantitation by integrated optical density. When PMN preloaded with LTB4 were resuspended in buffer at 37 degrees C for 0-90 s, there occurred a time-dependent release of LTB4 but little formation or release of 20-hydroxy-LTB4 and 20-carboxy-LTB4. When PMN were preloaded with increasing amounts of intracellular LTB4 by incubation with 3.1-50.0 microM LTA4 and were then resuspended in buffer at 37 degrees C for 20 s, there occurred a concentration-dependent and saturable release of LTB4 with a Km of 798 pmol/10(7) cells and a Vmax of 383 pmol/10(7) cells/20 s. The release of LTB4 was temperature-sensitive with a Q10 of 3.0 and an energy of activation of 19.9 kcal/mol. The rate of LTB4 release at 37 degrees C is about 50 times the rate of 20-carboxy-LTB4 release. PMN preloaded with LTB4 and resuspended at 0 degree C for 1-60 min in the presence of 30 microM LTA5 progressively converted LTA5 to LTB5. The rate of LTB4 release at 0 degree C was inhibited over the entire time period, peaking at about 50% at 30 min. These results indicate that the release of LTB4 from PMN is a carrier-mediated process that is distinct from its biosynthesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gagnon
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Austen
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Soberman
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007700:Kinetics; D007975:Leukotriene B4 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000378:metabolism*; D013696:Temperature; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D007975:Leukotriene B4