Subcellular distribution of docking/fusion proteins in neutrophils, secretory cells with multiple exocytic compartments.

Neutrophils contain at least four distinct types of secretory organelles, which undergo exocytosis during infection and inflammation. The signaling pathways leading to secretion of individual granules and their kinetics of exocytosis vary greatly, causing temporal and regional differences in docking and fusion with the plasma membrane. As a step toward understanding the processes underlying differential granular secretion in neutrophils, we assessed the presence and distribution of a number of proteins reported to be involved in vesicular docking and/or fusion in other systems. Specific Abs were used for immunoblotting of cells fractionated by density gradients and free-flow electrophoresis, and for localization by confocal immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. Syntaxin 1, VAMP (vesicle-associated membrane protein)-1, synaptosome-associated protein-25 (SNAP-25), synaptophysin, and cellubrevin were not detectable in human neutrophils. In contrast, syntaxin 4, VAMP-2, and the 39-kDa isoform of secretory carrier membrane protein (SCAMP) were present. SCAMP was found mainly in secondary and tertiary granules and in a fraction containing secretory vesicles, but was virtually absent from the primary (lysosomal) granules. This profile is consistent with the proposed "post-Golgi" distribution of SCAMP. VAMP-2 was largely absent from primary and secondary granules, but concentrated in tertiary granules and secretory vesicles. This pattern of distribution parallels the increasing sensitivity of these exocytic compartments to intracellular free calcium. Accordingly, ionomycin induced translocation of VAMP-2 toward the plasma membrane. Syntaxin 4 was found almost exclusively in the plasma membrane, and it accumulated in lamellipodia of migrating cells. This regional accumulation may contribute to localized secretion into the phagosomal lumen.