A mathematical model for ligand/receptor/G-protein dynamics and actin polymerization in human neutrophils

A mathematical model is proposed for describing the dynamics of the chemotactic peptide-stimulated actin polymerization response in human neutrophils. The response pathway utilizes the guanine nucleotide binding protein (G-protein) signal transduction cascade common to many receptor systems and allows adaptation in the continued presence of ligand. The development of such a model is an important first step toward understanding, predicting, and ultimately manipulating neutrophil responses. The model is divided into two parts, ligand/receptor/G-protein dynamics and the actin polymerization mechanism. Fast (receptor precoupled to G-protein) and slow (free receptor) signaling pathways involving ligand/receptor/G-protein interactions produce an activated signaling molecule. The actin polymerization mechanisms utilizes an actin binding protein which complexes with actin monomer and inhibits polymerization in an unstimulated cell. During stimulation, the activated signaling molecule enhances the dissociation of monomer/binding protein complexes, allowing the actin polymerization response to occur. The fast and slow signaling pathways are predicted to have different roles in controlling the time course of this actin polymerization. Additionally, precoupled receptors are predicted to have a larger ligand association rate constant than non-precoupled (free) receptors. Model simulations agree with many of the experimentally observed characteristics of both the stimulated F-actin response and ligand/receptor binding kinetics for both the fluorescent peptide ligand CHO-norleucyl-leucyl-phenylalanyl-norleucyl-tyrosyl-lysine-fluorescein (CHO-NLFNTK-fl) and the non-fluorescent peptide ligand CHO-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (CHO-MLF).