Induction of cytosolic activation factor for NADPH oxidase in differentiated HL-60 leukemia cells

NADPH oxidase was induced in HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cells when these cells were treated with 10(-7) M 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (VD3) for 4 days. The treated cells were disrupted by sonication, and the postnuclear fraction was separated into 48,000 X g supernatant (cytosol) and precipitate (membrane) fractions. Membrane-bound NADPH oxidase was activated in vitro with SDS and cytosol. However, the cytosol from untreated HL-60 cells could not activate NADPH oxidase. The cytosolic activity was induced 2 days after VD3 treatment and fully expressed on day 4. The activity was heat-sensitive and destroyed by trypsin. The possibility that the cytosolic activation factor is a protein kinase C (PKC) was then tested. Ca2+- and phospholipid-dependent PKC activity was low in the cytosol of untreated HL-60 cells but increased in the cytosols of VD3-treated cells 4 and 11 times, respectively, 2 days and 4 days after treatment. H-7 [1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine dihydrochloride], inhibited PKC activity in a dose-dependent manner at 1-100 microM. Cytosolic activity of NADPH oxidase was not inhibited at all at those concentrations. Furthermore, PKC activity was lost when Ca2+ was omitted from the assay mixture, but NADPH oxidase was activated in the presence of EGTA. These results indicated that the cytosolic factor is not a PKC, and that NADPH oxidase in this cell-free system is activated by a mechanism that does not involve PKC.