Pertussis toxin inhibition of chemotaxis and the ADP-ribosylation of a membrane protein in a human-mouse hybrid cell line.

When WBC264-9C cells are preincubated with pertussis toxin, chemotaxis is inhibited and ADP-ribosylation of a membrane protein with a subunit Mr 41,000 is observed. Both the inhibition of chemotaxis and the ADP-ribosylation by pertussis toxin display a similar time lag, temperature dependence, and pertussis toxin-concentration dependence. Although the inhibition of chemotaxis and the ADP-ribosylation of the membrane protein are qualitatively correlated, nearly complete inhibition of chemotaxis occurs when there is only partial ADP-ribosylation of the membrane protein. Pertussis toxin-catalyzed ADP-ribosylation of the Mr 41,000 protein in WBC264-9C membranes is stimulated by GDP, GTP, and to a lesser extent by GMP; the nonhydrolyzable GTP analog guanosine 5'-[beta, gamma-imido]triphosphate has no effect. WBC264-9C membranes have a high-affinity GTPase activity, which is partially inhibited in membranes from pertussis toxin-treated cells. Neither GTPase activity nor adenylate cyclase activity in membranes from WBC264-9C cells is affected by fMet-Leu-Phe, an attractant for these cells. Our results suggest that a guanine nucleotide binding protein may be involved in chemotaxis, but they do not indicate an involvement of adenylate cyclase.