The Src Family Kinases Hck and Fgr Regulate Neutrophil Responses to N-Formyl-Methionyl-Leucyl-Phenylalanine

The chemotactic peptide formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenilalanine (fMLP) triggers intracellular protein tyrosine phosphorylation leading to neutrophil activation. Deficiency of the Src family kinases Hck and Fgr have previously been found to regulate fMLP-induced degranulation. In this study, we further investigate fMLP signaling in hck−/−fgr−/− neutrophils and find that they fail to activate a respiratory burst and display reduced F-actin polymerization in response to fMLP. Additionally, albeit migration of both hck−/−fgr−/− mouse neutrophils and human neutrophils incubated with the Src family kinase inhibitor 4-amino-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-7-(t-butyl)pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine (PP2) through 3-μm pore size Transwells was normal, deficiency, or inhibition, of Src kinases resulted in a failure of neutrophils to migrate through 1-μm pore size Transwells. Among MAPKs, phosphorylation of ERK1/2 was not different, phosphorylation of p38 was only partially affected, and phosphorylation of JNK was markedly decreased in fMLP-stimulated hck−/−fgr−/− neutrophils and in human neutrophils incubated with PP2. An increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration and phosphorylation of Akt/PKB occurred normally in fMLP-stimulated hck−/−fgr−/− neutrophils, indicating that activation of both phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C and PI3K is independent of Hck and Fgr. In contrast, phosphorylation of the Rho/Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factor Vav1 and the Rac target p21-activated kinases were markedly reduced in both hck−/−fgr−/− neutrophils and human neutrophils incubated with a PP2. Consistent with these findings, PP2 inhibited Rac2 activation in human neutrophils. We suggest that Hck and Fgr act within a signaling pathway triggered by fMLP receptors that involves Vav1 and p21-activated kinases, leading to respiratory burst and F-actin polymerization.