Phospholipase A2 inhibition results in sequestration of plasma membrane into electronlucent vesicles during IgG-mediated phagocytosis.

Arachidonic acid is essential for antibody-mediated phagocytosis but its role in this process has not been defined. The phospholipase A2 inhibitor bromoenol lactone decreases arachidonic acid release and arrests phagocytosis; this effect is bypassed by the addition of arachidonic acid to bromoenol lactone-treated cells. In this morphological study, monocytes treated with bromoenol lactone accumulate electronlucent vesicles in the cytoplasm underlying bound targets. The vesicles are not contiguous with the plasma membrane as they are not labeled with cationized ferritin and are not connected to the plasma membrane as determined by high voltage electron microscopy imaging. However, if the plasma membrane is decorated with wheat germ agglutinin-gold prior to vesicle formation, virtually all vesicles contain the gold marker, indicating that they are plasma membrane-derived. The number of vesicles decreases dramatically upon addition of arachidonic acid to phospholipase A2-inhibited monocytes and phagocytosis is restored. Time course studies reveal electronlucent regions surrounding targets at early timepoints and a morphology consistent with fusion of electronlucent vesicles into the developing phagosome. These results are consistent with the following model: during the early stages of antibody-mediated phagocytosis, plasma membrane is sequestered in intracellular vesicles that provide membrane for the forming phagosome via fusion events that require arachidonic acid.