Comparative studies on alveolar macrophages and polymorphonuclear leukocytes. III. Difference spectra of their...

The respiratory pigments of rabbit polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and alveolar macrophages (A-MO) were compared in a spectrophotometric study conducted at liquid nitrogen temperature. In the difference spectra of the KCN-treated minus the untreated states and of the reduced minus the oxidized states, the cellular and granular fractions of PMN showed sharp absorption maxima identical with the absorption bands of myeloperoxidase (MPO). Even though A-MO revealed some guaiacol-peroxidation activity, the difference spectra of cellular and subcellular A-MO fractions did not show an MPO spectrum. The enzyme catalyzing the guaiacol peroxidation by A-MO appears to be an enzyme other than the MPO found in PMN. Despite the absence of the MPO spectrum, the difference spectra of A-MO granules when measured with KCN, dithionite, and succinate showed characteristic absorption bands of mitochondrial cytochromes, in contrast to the difference spectra of PMN, which showed far smaller cytochrome absorption bands. The results obtained suggest that the phagocytic metabolism of rabbit A-MO depends on mitochondrial respiration for its energy supply.