An SH3 domain and proline-rich sequence mediate an interaction between two components of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase complex.

Neutrophils possess a multicomponent NADPH oxidase system capable of producing large quantities of superoxide in a process known as the respiratory burst (1). Upon stimulation of a phagocytic cell, two cytosolic components of the oxidase, p67phox and p47phox, associate with a membrane-bound flavocytochrome b and a small GTP-binding protein to form a functional enzyme complex. Each of the Phox proteins contains two src homology 3 (SH3) domains, which are of unknown function but are potential mediators of protein-protein interactions between components of the activated oxidase. We have isolated a 47-kDa protein from lysates of differentiated HL60 cells that specifically bound to the carboxyl-terminal SH3 domain of p67phox and not to any other SH3 domain tested. This protein was identified as p47phox, and the putative SH3 domain binding site was located to a carboxyl-terminal proline-rich region. Proline-rich synthetic peptides based on this carboxyl-terminal region specifically inhibited the binding of p47phox to the carboxyl-terminal SH3 domain of p67phox, and sequential truncation defined a unique minimal sequence, which, although similar, does not match the consensus sequence defined for other SH3-binding proteins.