Cytosolic free Ca2+ changes and calpain activation are required for β integrin-accelerated phagocytosis by human neutrophils

Phagocytosis of microbes coated with opsonins such as the complement component C3bi is the key activity of neutrophils. However, the mechanism by which opsonins enhance the rate of phagocyrosis by these cells is unknown and has been difficult to study, partly because of the problem of observing and quantifying the events associated with phagocytosis. In this study, C3bi-opsonized particles were presented to neutrophils with a micromanipulator, so that the events of binding, pseudopod cup formation, engulfment, and completion of phagocyrosis were clearly defined and distinguished from those involved with chemotaxis. Using this approach in combination with simultaneous phase contrast and Ca2+ imaging, the temporal relationship between changes in cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration and phagocytosis were correlated. Here we show that whereas small, localized Ca2+ changes occur at the site of particle attachment and cup formation as a result of store release, rapid engulfment of the particle required a global change in cytosolic free Ca2+ which resulted from Ca2+ influx. This latter rise in cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration also liberated a fraction of beta2 integrin receptors which were initially immobile on the neutrophil surface, as demonstrable by both fluorescence recovery after laser bleaching and by visualization of localized beta2 integrin labelling. Inhibitors of calpain activation prevented both the Ca2+-induced liberation of beta2 integrin and the rapid stage of phagocytosis, despite the persistence of the global Ca2+ signal. Therefore, we propose that Ca2+ activation of calpain causes beta2 integrin liberation, and that this signal plays a key role in the acceleration of beta2 integrin-mediated phagocyrosis.