Activation of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase involves a conformational change in Nox2. The effector in this process is p67phox and there is evidence for a change in the configuration of p67phox being required for binding to Nox2. To study this, we measured binding of p67phox to a library of Nox2 peptides and binding of NusA–Nox2 fusion proteins to p67phox. We found, serendipitously, that deletion of residues 259–279 in p67phox (p67phoxΔ(259–279)), endowed it with the ability to bind selectively to Nox2 peptide 369–383 (peptide 28). There was no binding to scrambled Nox2 peptide 28 and to Nox4 peptide 28. Binding was cysteine independent and resistant to reducing and alkylating agents. Truncations of peptide 28 revealed that the actual binding site consisted of residues 375–383. Binding of p67phoxΔ(259–279) to peptide 28 was mimicked by that of a (p67phox‐RacGTP) chimera. Both p67phoxΔ(259–279) and the (p67pho–RacGTP) chimera bound a NusA–Nox2 fusion protein, comprising residues 375–383. Specific single residue deletion mutants, within the p67phox sequence 259–279, were also bound to Nox2 peptide 28. Peptides synthesized to correspond to the 259–279 sequence in p67phox, were found to autobind p67phox, suggesting that an intramolecular bond exists in p67phox, one pole of which was located within residues 259–279. We conclude that “resting” p67phox exists in a “closed” conformation, generated by an intramolecular bond. Deletion of specific residues within the 259–279 sequence, in vitro, or interaction with RacGTP, in vivo, causes “opening” of the bond and results in binding of p67phox to a specific, previously unknown, site in Nox2.

The superoxide (O·−2)-generating NADPH oxidase of phagocytes consists of a membrane component, cytochrome b558 (a heterodimer of Nox2 and p22phox), and four cytosolic components, p47phox, p67phox, p40phox, and Rac. The catalytic component, responsible for O·−2 generation, is Nox2. It is activated by the interaction of the dehydrogenase region (DHR) of Nox2 with the cytosolic components, principally with p67phox. Using a peptide-protein binding assay, we found that Nox2 peptides containing a 369CysGlyCys371 triad (CGC) bound p67phox with high affinity, dependent upon the establishment of a disulfide bond between the two cysteines. Serially truncated recombinant Nox2 DHR proteins bound p67phox only when they comprised the CGC triad. CGC resembles the catalytic motif (CGHC) of protein disulfide isomerases (PDIs). This led to the hypothesis that Nox2 establishes disulfide bonds with p67phox via a thiol-dilsulfide exchange reaction and, thus, functions as a PDI. Evidence for this was provided by the following: (1) Recombinant Nox2 protein, which contained the CGC triad, exhibited PDI-like disulfide reductase activity; (2) Truncation of Nox2 C-terminal to the CGC triad or mutating C369 and C371 to R, resulted in loss of PDI activity; (3) Comparison of the sequence of the DHR of Nox2 with PDI family members revealed three small regions of homology with PDIA3; (4) Two monoclonal anti-Nox2 antibodies, with epitopes corresponding to regions of Nox2/PDIA3 homology, reacted with PDIA3 but not with PDIA1; (5) A polyclonal anti-PDIA3 (but not an anti-PDIA1) antibody reacted with Nox2; (6) p67phox, in which all cysteines were mutated to serines, lost its ability to bind to a Nox2 peptide containing the CGC triad and had an impaired capacity to support oxidase activity in vitro. We propose a model of oxidase assembly in which binding of p67phox to Nox2 via disulfide bonds, by virtue of the intrinsic PDI activity of Nox2, stabilizes the primary interaction between the two components.

p67 phox fulfils a key role in the assembly/activation of the NADPH oxidase by direct interaction with Nox2. We proposed that Rac-GTP serves both as a carrier of p67 phox to the membrane and an inducer of a conformational change enhancing its affinity for Nox2. This study provides evidence for the latter function: (i) oxidase activation was inhibited by p67 phox peptides (106-120) and (181)(182)(183)(184)(185)(186)(187)(188)(189)(190)(191)(192)(193)(194)(195), corresponding to the β hairpin and to a downstream region engaged in intramolecular bonds with the β hairpin, respectively; (ii) deletion of residues 181-193 and point mutations Q115R or K181E resulted in selective binding of p67 phox to Nox2 peptide (369-383); (iii) both deletion and point mutations led to a change in p67 phox , expressed in increased apparent molecular weights; (iv) p67 phox was bound to p67 phox peptide (181)(182)(183)(184)(185)(186)(187)(188)(189)(190)(191)(192)(193)(194)(195) and to a cluster of peptides (residues 97-117), supporting the participation of selected residues within these sequences in intramolecular bonds; (v) p67 phox failed to bind to Nox2 peptide (369-383), following interaction with Rac1-GTP, but a (p67 phox -Rac1-GTP) chimera exhibited marked binding to the peptide, similar to that of p67 phox deletion and point mutants; and (vi) size exclusion chromatography of the chimera revealed its partition in monomeric and polymeric forms, with binding to Nox2 peptide (369-383) restricted to polymers. The molecular basis of Rac-GTP action entails unmasking of a previously hidden Nox2-binding site in p67 phox , following disengagement of the β hairpin from more C-terminal residues. The domain in Nox2 binding the "modified" p67 phox comprises residues within the 369-383 sequence in the cytosolic dehydrogenase region. K E Y W O R D Sconformational change, intramolecular bond, NADPH oxidase, peptide-protein interaction, synthetic peptides, (p67 phox -Rac) chimera INTRODUCTIONThe phagocyte NADPH oxidase (briefly, oxidase) is an enzyme complex generating superoxide (O 2 .-) by the NADPH-dependent one-electron

Activation of the Nox2-dependent NADPH oxidase is the result of a conformational change in Nox2 induced by interaction with the cytosolic component p67 phox. In preliminary work we identified a cluster of overlapping 15-mer synthetic peptides, corresponding to p67 phox residues 259-279, which inhibited oxidase activity in an in vitro, cell-free assay, but the results did not point to a competitive mechanism. We recently identified an auto-inhibitory intramolecular bond in p67 phox , one extremity of which was located within the 259-279 sequence, and we hypothesized that inhibition by exogenous peptides might mimic intrinsic auto-inhibition. In this study, we found that: (i) progressive N-and C-terminal truncation of inhibitory p67 phox peptides, corresponding to residues 259-273 and 265-279, revealed that inhibitory ability correlated with the presence of residues 265 NIVFVL 270 , exposed at either the Nor C-termini of the peptides; (ii) inhibition of oxidase activity was associated exclusively with self-assembled peptides, which pelleted upon centrifugation at 12,000 ×g; (iii) self-assembled p67 phox peptides inhibited oxidase activity by specific binding of p67 phox and the ensuing depletion of this component, essential for interaction with Nox2; and (iv) peptides subjected to scrambling or reversing the order of residues in NIVFVL retained the propensity for self-assembly, oxidase inhibitory ability, and specific binding of p67 phox , indicating that the dominant parameter was the hydrophobic character of five of the six residues. This appears to be the first description of inhibition of oxidase activity by self-assembled peptides derived from an oxidase component, acting by an auto-inhibitory mechanism.