Effects of Chemotactic Factors and Other Agents on the Amounts of Actin and a 65,000-mol-wt Protein Associated with the Cytoskeleton of Rabbit and Human Neutrophils

Stimulation of rabbit neutrophils by the chemotactic factors fMet-Leu-Phe and leukotriene B4, by platelet activating factor, or by arachidonic acid produces a rapid and dose-dependent increase in the amounts of actin and of a 65,000-mol-wt protein associated with the cytoskeleton. Phorbol 12-myristate, 13-acetate, the calcium ionophore A23187 in the presence or absence of EGTA, and the fluorescent calcium chelator quin-2 also cause an increase in cytoskeletal actin. The stimulated increases in the cytoskeletal actin are not dependent on a rise in the intracellular concentration of free calcium and are not mediated by an increase in the intracellular pH or activation of protein kinase C. The increases in the cytoskeletal actin produced by fMet-Leu-Phe and leukotriene B4, but not by phorbol 12-myristate, 13-acetate, are inhibited by high osmolarity. The effect of hyperosmolarity requires a decrease in cell volume, is not mediated by an increase in basal intracellular concentration of free calcium, and is not prevented by pretreating the cells with amiloride. Preincubation of the cells with hyperosmotic solution also inhibits degranulation produced by all the stimuli tested. The inhibitory action of high osmolarity on the fMet-Leu-Phe and leukotriene B4 induced stimulation of cytoskeletal actin is discussed in terms of the possibility that the addition of high osmolarity, either directly or through activation of protein kinase C, causes receptor uncoupling.