Disturbed interaction of p21-rac with mutated p67-phox causes chronic granulomatous disease

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is characterized by the failure of phagocytic leukocytes to generate superoxide, needed for the intracellular killing of microorganisms. This is caused by mutations in any one of the four subunits of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase. In a rare, autosomal recessive form of CGD, a 67-kD cytosolic component of this enzyme (p67-phox) is missing. We here report on a patient with a mutation in the p67-phox gene that leads to expression of a nonfunctional p67-phox protein. The purified granulocytes of this patient failed to produce superoxide and contained about half of the normal amount of p67-phox. Analysis of the cDNA and genomic DNA of this patient showed that the patient is a compound heterozygote for a triplet nucleotide deletion in the p67-phox gene, predicting an in-frame deletion of lysine 58 in the p67-phox protein and a larger deletion of 11-13 kb in the other allele. Interestingly, the 58Lys deletion in p67-phox disrupts the interaction with p21-rac1, a ras-related protein involved in the activation of the NADPH oxidase. In contrast to normal neutrophils, in which p47-phox and p67-phox translocate to the plasma membrane upon cell activation, the cells of the patient did not show this translocation, indicating that an interaction between p67-phox and p21-rac1 is essential for translocation of these cytosolic proteins and activation of the NADPH oxidase. Moreover, this CGD patient represents the first case of disease caused by a disturbed binding of a ras-related protein to its target protein.