Spin trapping of superoxide radicals following stimulation of neutrophils with fMLP is temperature dependent.

Oxygen radical formation by human neutrophils stimulated with a chemotactic peptide, formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP), was studied through the use of spin trapping and superoxide dismutase-inhibitable reduction of oxidized cytochrome c. Both methods provided comparable data on temperature-dependent kinetics of superoxide radical formation, but hydroxyl radicals were also detected in spin-trapping experiments. When superoxide generation was monitored at 37 degrees C, the respiratory burst lasted only a few minutes. If the neutrophils were stimulated at 37 degrees C, but superoxide measurements were done at room temperature, the respiratory burst was again transient. However, neutrophils persistently generated superoxide when both stimulation and subsequent measurements were performed at room temperature. In the presence of the actin polymerization inhibitor, cytochalasin B, superoxide generation was persistent, even when measurements were conducted at 37 degrees C. A possible explanation for these observations is that the fMLP receptor complexes quickly aggregate and are internalized at physiological temperature, but not at room temperature. Very little superoxide was formed if cells were kept at a temperature of 4 degrees C for 1 h prior to fMLP addition, which is consistent with decreased expression of the fMLP receptor at cold temperatures.