Neutrophil-delivered myeloperoxidase dampens the hydrogen peroxide burst after tissue wounding in zebrafish.

Prompt neutrophil arrival is critical for host defense immediately after injury [1-3]. Following wounding, a hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) burst generated in injured tissues is the earliest known leukocyte chemoattractant [4]. Generating this tissue-scale H(2)O(2) gradient uses dual oxidase [4] and neutrophils sense H(2)O(2) by a mechanism involving the LYN Src-family kinase [5], but the molecular mechanisms responsible for H(2)O(2) clearance are unknown [6]. Neutrophils carry abundant amounts of myeloperoxidase, an enzyme catalyzing an H(2)O(2)-consuming reaction [7, 8]. We hypothesized that this neutrophil-delivered myeloperoxidase downregulates the high tissue H(2)O(2) concentrations that follow wounding. This was tested in zebrafish using simultaneous fluorophore-based imaging of H(2)O(2) concentrations and leukocytes [4, 9-11] and a new neutrophil-replete but myeloperoxidase-deficient mutant (durif). Leukocyte-depleted zebrafish had an abnormally sustained wound H(2)O(2) burst, indicating that leukocytes themselves were required for H(2)O(2) downregulation. Myeloperoxidase-deficient zebrafish also had abnormally sustained high wound H(2)O(2) concentrations despite similar numbers of arriving neutrophils. A local H(2)O(2)/myeloperoxidase interaction within wound-recruited neutrophils was demonstrated. These data demonstrate that leukocyte-delivered myeloperoxidase cell-autonomously downregulates tissue-generated wound H(2)O(2) gradients in vivo, defining a new requirement for myeloperoxidase during inflammation. Durif provides a new animal model of myeloperoxidase deficiency closely phenocopying the prevalent human disorder [7, 12, 13], offering unique possibilities for investigating its clinical consequences.