Decreased phosphorylation of protein kinase B and extracellular signal-regulated kinase in neutrophils from patients with myelodysplasia

Neutrophils from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) show a disturbed differentiation pattern and are generally dysfunctional. To study these defects in more detail, we investigated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and F-actin polymerization in neutrophils from MDS patients and healthy controls and the involvement of N-formyl-L-methionyl-L-lucyl-L-phenylaline (fMLP) and granulocyte macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-stimulated signal transduction pathways. Following fMLP stimulation, similar levels of respiratory burst, F-actin polymerization, and activation of the small GTPase Rac2 were demonstrated in MDS and normal neutrophils. However, GM-CSF and G-CSF priming of ROS production were significantly decreased in MDS patients. We subsequently investigated the signal transduction pathways involved in ROS generation and demonstrated that fMLP-stimulated ROS production was inhibited by the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY294002, but not by the MAPK/ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitor U0126. In contrast, ROS production induced by fMLP stimulation of GM-CSF-primed cells was inhibited by LY294002 and U0126. This coincides with enhanced protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) phosphorylation that was PI3K dependent and enhanced extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) phosphorylation that was PI3K independent. We demonstrated higher protein levels of the PI3K subunit p110 in neutrophils from MDS patients and found that though the fMLP-induced phosphorylation of PKB/Akt and ERK1/2 could also be enhanced by pretreatment with GM-CSF in these patients, the degree and kinetics of PKB/Akt and ERK1/2 phosphorylation were significantly disturbed. These defects were observed despite a normal GM-CSF-induced signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) phosphorylation. Our results indicate that the reduced priming of neutrophil ROS production in MDS patients might be caused by a disturbed convergence of the fMLP and GM-CSF signaling routes.