Chemoattractant-regulated mobilization of a novel intracellular compartment in human neutrophils

A novel mobilizable intracellular compartment was identified in human neutrophils by latent alkaline phosphatase activity. This compartment is mobilized to the plasma membrane much more readily than any identified granule subset and has kinetics of up-regulation in the membrane similar to those reported for a variety of receptor proteins. Triton X-100 permeabilization of both intact human neutrophils and subcellular fractions obtained by density-gradient centrifugation revealed that 70 percent of the alkaline phosphatase is located in an intracellular compartment distinct from primary, secondary, and gelatinase granules and from the plasma membrane. This compartment fully translocates to the plasma membrane after stimulation with nanomolar concentrations of the chemotactic peptide N-formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine.