Atypical protein kinase C-ζ is essential for delayed phagocytosis of Helicobacter pylori

Phagocytosis is a rapid actin-dependent endocytic process used by macrophages and neutrophils to ingest and kill microorganisms [1, 2]. Perturbation of phagocytosis is central to the ability of some pathogenic microbes to cause disease, and we demonstrated previously that the ulcerogenic bacterium Helicobacter pylori (Hp) actively retards its uptake by macrophages and subsequently persists inside novel vacuoles called megasomes [3]. Neither the receptor that mediates Hp binding nor the signaling pathways that regulate bacterial engulfment have been defined. Nevertheless, the fact that other phagocytic stimuli do not exhibit delayed phagocytosis [4, 5] suggests that Hp may be ingested by a unique mechanism. We now show that Hp transiently activated protein kinase C (PKC) in macrophages and that atypical PKCzeta and novel PKCepsilon, but not conventional PKCalpha, accumulated on forming phagosomes. Pharmacologic agents, isoform-selective pseudosubstrate peptides, and antisense oligonucleotides demonstrated that PKCzeta regulated local actin polymerization and bacterial engulfment, whereas other PKC isoforms did not. In contrast, opsonization of Hp with immunoglobulin G (IgG) induced rapid PKCzeta-independent uptake and enhanced killing of ingested bacteria. A role for atypical PKCs in phagocytosis has not been described. We conclude that Hp defines a new phagocytic pathway in macrophages that is regulated by PKCzeta.