Cytochrome b558, a component of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase, is a flavoprotein.

Cytochrome b558 is the only membrane component of the phagocyte O2(-)-producing NADPH oxidase. The O2- production by the oxidase reconstituted in vitro with the crude membrane fraction is enhanced several-fold by addition of FAD, whereas that with the partially purified cytochrome is completely dependent on exogenous FAD, suggesting that FAD acts through the membrane component, cytochrome b558. The alignments of the amino acid sequence of the large subunit of the cytochrome (gp91-phox) with those of previously characterized flavoproteins reveal that the middle and C-terminal portions of gp91-phox are likely to be FAD- and NADPH-binding domains, respectively. Cytochrome b558, thus, appears to be a flavoprotein with an NADPH-binding site, of the NADPH oxidase.