DECREASE IN THE PHOSPHOTYROSINE PHOSPHATASE-ACTIVITY IN THE PLASMA-MEMBRANE OF HUMAN NEUTROPHILS ON STIMULATION BY PHORBOL 12-MYRISTATE 13-ACETATE

Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) induced a decrease in the phosphotyrosine phosphatase (PTPase) activity in human neutrophils. The decrease in the activity induced by PMA was blocked by the treatment of the cells with staurosporine, indicating that protein kinase C is involved in the decrease. The PTPase activity was localized in the plasma membrane. The activity in the membrane with the optimum pH at 5.5 had a K-m value for phosphotyrosine of 2.2 mM and V-max of 2.0 mu mol/min per mg of protein. No activity was observed against phosphoserine and phosphothreonine. Vanadate, molybdate, zinc and a sulfhydryl reagent, p-chloromercuribenzenesulphonic acid, inhibited the PTPase. The PMA-induced decrease in activity was almost completely recovered by treatment of the plasma membrane with Triton X-100 at low concentrations which did not solubilize the activity from the membrane. When the plasma membrane was treated with trypsin, the PTPase of the membrane from PMA-treated cells was mostly protected from the proteinase attack while that from the resting cells was not protected. Pretreatment of the plasma membrane with Triton X-100 enabled trypsin to gain access to all the PTPase in the membrane from both PMA-treated and resting cells. The PMA treatment affected neither subcellular localization of the PTPase nor the orientation of the plasma membrane vesicles. These findings suggest that conformational changes of the enzyme induced by PMA result in the decrease in PTPase activity.