Metabolism of substance P and bradykinin by human neutrophils

The catabolism of substance P and bradykinin, two peptides involved in inflammation, by human neutrophils was investigated. Substance P was cleaved by unstimulated neutrophils, but the rate of hydrolysis increased greatly (about 4-fold) when the cells were lysed by freezing and thawing or stimulated to release with fMet-Leu-Phe and cytochalasin B. The enzyme responsible for cleaving substance P was cathepsin G, hydrolyzing the Phe7-Phe8 bond. Neutral endopeptidase 24.11 (enkephalinase) became the main inactivating enzyme only when neutrophil cytoplasts (containing plasma membrane but no subcellular particles) or washed plasma membrane enriched high speed sediments were tested. Subcellular fractionation showed the highest substance P degrading activity to be in the granules. Purified cathepsin G readily cleaved substance P with a Km of 1.13 MK, a kcat of 6.35 sec-1 and a kcat/Km of 5639 M-1 sec-1, similar to kinetic constants previously reported for the best peptide substrates of cathepsin G. Despite the high Km, purified cathepsin G did hydrolyze SP at a much lower substrate concentration (down to 1 nM) as determined by radioimmunoassay. Bradykinin was also hydrolyzed by intact neutrophils but, in contrast, was not inactivated by cathepsin G, but by neutral endopeptidase at the Pro7-Phe8 bond. The inactivation of bradykinin by intact neutrophils was decreased by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, probably due to down-regulation by endocytosis of the neutral endopeptidase on the plasma membrane. Thus, both bradykinin and substance P are inactivated by human neutrophils, although by different enzymes. In spite of the less favorable kinetics in vitro than with neutral endopeptidase, cathepsin G is the main inactivator of substance P in neutrophils. This may be due to the estimated 300 to 3600-fold higher concentration of cathepsin G in neutrophils than that of the neutral endopeptidase.