Paracrine signaling by hydrogen peroxide (H
2O
2) induces neutrophil wound attraction
6. However, it is not known what sensor detects H
2O
2 and mediates neutrophil recruitment. H
2O
2 can cross cell membranes and inactivate tyrosine phosphatases through oxidation of the catalytic cysteine
7–11. Cysteine oxidation also regulates protein kinases
12–15. We used zebrafish, which are a powerful system to study vertebrate immunity
6, 16–19, to identify a mechanism by which neutrophils detect wound-induced H
2O
2. While searching for a neutrophil redox sensor, we found that Src family kinases (SFKs) are activated in neutrophils around wounds. We detected autophosphorylation of the activation loop tyrosine of SFKs at 30 minutes post tail transection in 3 days-post-fertilization (dpf) larvae (). Phosphorylated SFKs displayed a punctate appearance at the neutrophil leading edge and the autophosphorylation depended on wounding (,
Supplementary Fig. 2a,b). SFKs maintain inhibitory intramolecular interactions in an inactive state, while dephosphorylation of the C-terminal phosphotyrosine releases the inhibitory configuration, allowing trans-autophosphorylation of the activation loop tyrosine, thereby activating SFKs
20–23. Additionally, emerging evidence suggests cysteine redox-mediated regulation of SFKs
13, 15. Several cysteines are implicated in the redox regulation of cSrc
13, 15, but redox regulation of other SFKs is poorly understood.
To investigate whether H
2O
2 is involved in SFK autophosphorylation in neutrophils, we inhibited NADPH oxidase (NOX) enzymes with diphenyleneiodonium (DPI)
6. DPI attenuated SFK phosphorylation in neutrophils after wounding (
Supplementary Fig. 2c,d). To distinguish H
2O
2 production from neutrophils versus wounds, we used morpholino antisense oligonucleotides to interfere with pre-mRNA splicing of dual oxidase (duox), which is responsible for H
2O
2 generation at wounds, but not in neutrophils
6. Duox knockdown inhibited SKF phosphorylation in neutrophils (), indicating that SFK phosphorylation depends on the H
2O
2 burst at wounds.
We found that treatment with SFK inhibitors impaired early accumulation of neutrophils at wounds (,
Supplementary Fig. 2e,f and
Supplementary Fig. 3a,b). We focused on early recruitment of neutrophils to wounds at 0.5–1h post wounding throughout this study, because within this time frame the H
2O
2 burst occurs
6 (
Supplementary Movie 1) and neutrophil accumulation is roughly linear
18, 19. Addition of PP2 at 1h post wounding did not disturb resolution of inflammation, which is mediated by neutrophil reverse migration from wounds
16, 19 (
Supplementary Fig 3c.d). SFK inhibition did not impair H
2O
2 burst at wounds ( and
Supplementary Movie 1) or neutrophil motility in the cephalic mesenchyme
18 (
Supplementary Fig. 2g,h and
Movie 2). Injection of H
2O
2 into the otic cavity, or bath application of H
2O
2 following wounding recruited neutrophils, which was impaired by SFK inhibition (
Supplementary Fig. 4a,b,c,d,e,f). We also performed an in vitro chemotaxis assay using human neutrophils. Consistent with mouse neutrophils
3, H
2O
2 directly attracted human neutrophils (). Two structurally different SFK inhibitors impaired chemotaxis to H
2O
2 () while SFK inhibition enhanced chemotaxis to fMLP (
Supplementary Fig. 4g).
To identify specific SFKs that mediate neutrophil wound responses, we purified zebrafish myeloid cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and performed reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
19 (
Supplementary Fig. 5a). Among the nine SFKs in mammals, Lyn, Fgr and Hck are myeloid specific
20,24. Analysis of EST profiles in UniGene (NCBI) suggested that Lyn, Hck, Yrk and Src might be expressed in zebrafish leukocytes. RT-PCR detected lyn in neutrophils and lyn and yrk in macrophages (). In situ hybridization detected lyn mRNA in the caudal hematopoietic tissue (CHT) as well as in the pronephric ducts and neuromasts (). Lyn, which is phylogenetically conserved (
Supplementary Fig. 5b), is expressed in all leukocytes except T lymphocytes in mammals, and its deficiency in mice leads to myeloproliferation and autoimmunity
24–26. Lyn-deficient neutrophils display an exaggerated response to adhesion signals and weakened response to several chemokines in vitro, but its role in neutrophils in vivo is not clear
24, 27. To knockdown zebrafish Lyn, we designed two morpholinos to target pre-mRNA splice sites (). Both morpholinos attenuated neutrophil accumulation at wounds (). Lyn knockdown increased the number of total neutrophils in the CHT (
Supplementary Fig 5c,d), consistent with the myeloproliferation of lyn-deficient mice
24–26. Live imaging demonstrated that Lyn depletion impaired neutrophil directional migration towards wounds ( and
Supplementary Movie 3). Macrophage wound attraction was inhibited by PP2 or DPI but not Lyn knockdown (
Supplementary Fig. 6a,b). Lyn knockdown also inhibited neutrophil responses to bath H
2O
2 (
Supplementary Fig. 7a,b). To investigate specificity, we used LTB
4, which attracts zebrafish neutrophils
17. Bath LTB
4 induced dissemination of neutrophils into fins, which was not prevented by either DPI or Lyn knockdown (
Supplementary Fig. 7c,d,e,f and
Supplementary Movie 4). Lyn depletion also inhibited the wound-induced SFK autophosphorylation in neutrophils (), indicating that Lyn is primarily responsible for SFK phosphorylation in neutrophils.
We hypothesized that Lyn might be a neutrophil redox sensor that detects H
2O
2 at wounds. When we expressed Lyn fused to GFP at its C-terminus in HEK293 cells, which produce H
2O
2 via NOX4
28, phosphorylation of Lyn activation loop tyrosine was detected (). This autophosphorylation of Lyn partly depended on endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS), because NOX inhibition by DPI decreased Lyn phosphorylation (). Because endogenous ROS could also work on phosphatases and other kinases, we took a Lyn-specific approach. We created two cysteine mutants C224A and C466A, mutating each cysteine to alanine, based on the importance of the corresponding residues in cSrc
13 and phylogenetic conservation. When expressed in HEK293 cells, C466A had impaired autophosphorylation while C224A was phosphorylated similarly to Lyn WT (). Cysteine 466 (C466) is located at the C-terminus of the kinase domain and is phylogenetically conserved (
Supplementary Fig. 8a). To investigate whether H
2O
2 activates Lyn directly through C466 oxidation, we performed an in vitro kinase assay. After immunoprecipitation of Lyn, we added 15 μM H
2O
2, which is consistent with concentrations that attract neutrophils in vitro
3 () and in vivo
6. H
2O
2 directly activated Lyn WT but not C466A (). Importantly, C466A was activated by magnesium, which is necessary for the kinase reaction with ATP, similarly to WT (), suggesting that C466 regulates the redox-specific function of Lyn rather than the basal activity. We also detected reduced cysteines in Lyn by biotinylated iodoacetamide (BIAM) labeling
13 and found that the C466A was slightly but significantly more reduced than WT (
Supplementary Fig. 8b,c), which is consistent with the idea that Lyn has multiple cysteines which could be oxidized. Because mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are activated downstream of ROS and SFKs
29, we investigated the effects of Lyn expression on MAPKs. Ectopic expression of Lyn in HEK293 cells, where Lyn is activated by endogenous ROS (), activated Erk but not JNK or p38 (
Supplementary Fig. 8d). This Lyn-induced activation of Erk was attenuated in cells expressing Lyn C466A compared to Lyn WT (
Supplementary Fig. 8e,f). Collectively, our data indicate that H
2O
2 directly activates Lyn through oxidation of C466, which activates downstream signaling. We also found that C468 in human Lyn, which corresponds to C466 of zebrafish Lyn, has similar functions in regulating Lyn autophosphorylation and oxidation and Erk activation (
Supplementary Fig. 9a,b,c,d,e).
To investigate the importance of Lyn C466 during neutrophil wound responses, we established two transgenic zebrafish lines, which express Lyn WT-GFP and C466A-GFP at similar levels in neutrophils (
Supplementary Fig. 10a,b,c,d). We injected lyn morpholino, which does not inhibit the transgenes, into these transgenic animals. Lyn morpholino did not inhibit neutrophil accumulation at wounds in transgenic larvae expressing Lyn WT in neutrophils, although it impaired neutrophil recruitment in wild-type clutchmates (), indicating that Lyn regulates neutrophil wound responses cell-autonomously. When we injected lyn morpholino in the transgenic line expressing Lyn C466A in neutrophils, Lyn knockdown inhibited neutrophil wound responses in the transgenic larvae (). These data demonstrate that C466, which is necessary for H
2O
2-induced Lyn activation, mediates neutrophil responses in vivo. We also investigated the importance of the cysteine to signaling downstream of Lyn in neutrophils in vivo. Erk phosphorylation was detected in puncta at the leading edge of neutrophils around wounds (
Supplementary Fig. 11a), which is reminiscent of phosphorylated SFKs (). Lyn knockdown impaired Erk activation in neutrophils (
Supplementary Fig. 11b,c), which was reversed by transgenic expression of Lyn WT in neutrophils but not the C466A mutant, supporting the importance of C466 in vivo (
Supplementary Fig. 11d,e,f,g). Furthermore, Erk inhibition impaired neutrophil wound attraction (
Supplementary Fig. 12).
In conclusion, we have found, for the first time, that Lyn acts as a direct redox sensor that mediates neutrophil wound responses in vivo (
Supplementary Fig. 1a). Oxidation of cSrc regulates its activity, but whether it leads to inhibition or activation has been controversial
13, 15. Oxidative stress activates Lyn in neutrophils, but whether activation is direct or indirect was not known
30. Here we have shown that Lyn is activated through direct oxidation of C466 and provide in vivo relevance. Because we did not detect oligomerization of Lyn in non-reducing SDS-PAGE (data not shown), oxidation at C466 might regulate an intramolecular conformation. H
2O
2 can cross the plasma membrane through aquaporins
8, 11. How redox sensing by Lyn is transformed into directional migration remains to be determined. Activation of Lyn and Erk at the neutrophil front suggests that Lyn might regulate the neutrophil leading edge. Lyn is unique for its dual roles in regulating both inhibitory signaling by phosphatases such as SHIP and activating signaling by MAPKs
24–26 (
Supplementary Fig. 1b). How the opposing positive and negative signaling is coordinated is poorly understood. Because the phosphatases comprising Lyn’s inhibitory pathway are inactivated by oxidation
9,10, we speculate that H
2O
2 may have two effects on Lyn’s function to orchestrate neutrophil wound responses: oxidation-mediated activation of Lyn and inhibition of the redox-sensitive inhibitory signaling downstream of Lyn (
Supplementary Fig. 1b).