Activation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) by chemotactic peptides initiates a series
of functional responses that serve to eliminate pathogens. The intermediate steps that link
engagement of the chemoattractant receptor to the microbicidal responses involve protein
kinases that have yet to be identified. In this study we detected in human PMN the presence
of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), which became rapidly tyrosine
phosphorylated and activated in response to the chemotactic peptide N-formyl-methionyl …