Model for leukocyte regulation by chemoattractant receptors: roles of a guanine nucleotide regulatory protein and polyphosphoinositide metabolism.

Binding of chemoattractants to their receptors on phagocytes activates a guanine nucleotide regulatory (N) protein through the substitution of GTP for GDP on N. The activated N protein in turn stimulates a membrane-associated phospholipase C by lowering the Ca2+ concentration required to activate this enzyme from supraphysiologic levels to ambient intracellular concentrations. The phospholipase C hydrolyzes phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate into the Ca2+ mobilizer inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and the protein kinase C activator 1,2-diacylglycerol. In addition to promoting cellular activation, the products of this hydrolysis initiate processes which feed back to inhibit poly-phosphoinositide breakdown. The regulatory model proposed herein may be relevant to other receptors which stimulate polyphosphoinositide metabolism.