Intracellular localization of platelet-activating factor synthesis in human neutrophils

Human neutrophils were homogenized and fractionated on a continuous sucrose gradient to assess the subcellular location of acetyl-CoA: lyso-PAF acetyltransferase and of newly synthesized PAF (1-0-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine). Acetyltransferase activity showed two subcellular locations in resting neutrophils. One of them cofractionated with plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum markers, whereas another major location corresponded to a region of the gradient enriched in tertiary granules. No PAF was detected in resting neutrophils, but PAF synthesis was induced by cell stimulation with ionophore A23187. Most of the newly synthesized PAF was found cell-associated, showing a bimodal subcellular distribution similar to that found for acetyltransferase activity in activated cells. PAF and acetyltransferase were located in a light membrane fraction, enriched in plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum, and in an ill-defined region of the gradient between the specific and azurophilic granules in A23187-stimulated cells. These data support the involvement of the acetyltransferase pathway in the synthesis of PAF induced by ionophore A23187, and demonstrate the synthesis and accumulation of newly synthesized PAF in a light membrane fraction as well as in an intracellular dense organelle upon neutrophil activation.