ARGININE-SPECIFIC MONO(ADP-RIBOSYL)TRANSFERASE ACTIVITY ON THE SURFACE OF HUMAN POLYMORPHONUCLEAR NEUTROPHIL LEUCOCYTES

An Arg-specific mono(ADP-ribosyl)transferase activity on the surface of human polymorphonuclear neutrophil leucocytes (PMNs) was confirmed by the use of diethylamino(benzylidineamino)guanidine (DEA-BAG) as an ADP-ribose acceptor. Two separate HPLC systems were used to separate ADP-ribosyl-DEA-BAG from reaction mixtures, and its presence was confirmed by electrospray mass spectrometry. ADP-ribosyl-DEA-BAG was produced in the presence of PMNs, but not in their absence. Incubation of DEA-BAG with ADP-ribose (0.1-10 mM) did not yield ADP-ribosyl-DEA-BAG, which indicates that ADP-ribosyl-DEA-BAG formed in the presence of PMNs was not simply a product of a reaction between DEA-BAG and free ADP-ribose, due possibly to the hydrolysis of NAD(+) by an NAD(+) glycohydrolase. The assay of mono(ADP-ribosyl)transferase with agmatine as a substrate was modified for intact PMNs, and the activity was found to be approx. 50-fold lower than that in rabbit cardiac membranes. The K-m of the enzyme for NAD(+) was 100.1 +/- 30.4 mu M and the V-max 1.4 +/- 0.2 pmol of ADP-ribosylagmatine/h per 10(6) cells. The enzyme is likely to be linked to the cell surface via a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor, since incubation of intact PMNs with phosphoinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) led to a 98 %, decrease in mono(ADP-ribosyl)transferase activity in the cells. Cell surface proteins were labelled after exposure of intact PMNs to [P-32]NAD(+). Their molecular masses were 79, 67, 46, 36 and 26 kDa. The time course for labelling was non-linear under these conditions over a period of 4 h. The labelled products were identified as mono(ADP-ribosyl)ated proteins by hydrolysis with snake venom phosphodiesterase to yield 5'-AMP.