A PtdInsP3- and Rho GTPase-mediated positive feedback loop regulates neutrophil polarity

When presented with a gradient of chemoattractant, many eukaryotic cells respond with polarized accumulation of the phospholipid PtdIns(3,4,5)P3. This lipid asymmetry is one of the earliest readouts of polarity in neutrophils, Dictyostelium discoideum and fibroblasts. However, the mechanisms that regulate PtdInsP3 polarization are not well understood. Using a cationic lipid shuttling system, we have delivered exogenous PtdInsP3 to neutrophils. Exogenous PtdInsP3 elicits accumulation of endogenous PtdInsP3 in a positive feedback loop that requires endogenous phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinases (PI(3)Ks) and Rho family GTPases. This feedback loop is important for establishing PtdInsP3 polarity in response to both chemoattractant and to exogenous PtdInsP3; it may function through a self-organizing pattern formation system. Emergent properties of positive and negative regulatory links between PtdInsP3 and Rho family GTPases may constitute a broadly conserved module for the establishment of cell polarity during eukaryotic chemotaxis.