Glycolytic enzymes of stored granulocytes

A marked reduction of granulocyte chemotactic function accompanies the storage of granulocyte concentrates. Since chemotaxis is energy dependent, we studied energy metabolism in stored neutrophils. We and others have reported that stored neutrophils have a defect in their energy metabolism. We found that defective adenosine triphosphate maintenance in stored neutrophils was occult in resting cells, but was unmasked by an energy-intensive stimulus, phagocytosis. In studies reported here, we sought to determine if defective adenosine triphosphate maintenance during granulocyte storage was related to altered glycolytic enzyme activity. We studied the activity of glycolytic enzymes in fresh and stored, resting and stimulated (opsonized zymosan) neutrophils. The following enzyme activities showed no major changes during storage, in resting or stimulated neutrophils: hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, aldolase, glucose phosphate isomerase, triose phosphate isomerase, glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase, phosphoglycerate kinase, phosphoglyceromutase, enolase, lactate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione peroxidase. In contrast, pyruvate kinase activity consistently increased during storage. In 6 units, pyruvate kinase activity increased by 75 percent after 24 hours of storage at room temperature and by 198 percent after 48 hours. The storage-associated increase in pyruvate kinase activity was not inhibited by cycloheximide. Stimulation of neutrophils by phagocytosis of opsonized zymosan also produced striking increases in the pyruvate kinase activity of both fresh and stored cells. Additional studies indicated that the increases in pyruvate kinase activity observed during storage and after phagocytosis were associated with an increase in the availability of pyruvate kinase activity in the supernatant fraction of neutrophil sonicates. Total pyruvate kinase activity in sonicates of neutrophils was unchanged by storage or particle ingestion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)