Complete amino acid sequence of a human monocyte chemoattractant, a putative mediator of cellular immune reactions

In a study of the structural basis for leukocyte specificity of chemoattractants, we determined the complete amino acid sequence of human glioma-derived monocyte chemotactic factor (GDCF-2), a peptide that attracts human monocytes but not neutrophils. The choice of a tumor cell product for analysis was dictated by its relative abundance and an amino acid composition indistinguishable from that of lymphocyte-derived chemotactic factor (LDCF), the agonist thought to account for monocyte accumulation in cellular immune reactions. By a combination of Edman degradation and mass spectrometry, it was established that GDCF-2 comprises 76 amino acid residues, commencing at the N terminus with pyroglutamic acid. The peptide contains four half-cystines, at positions 11, 12, 36, and 52, which create a pair of loops, clustered at the disulfide bridges. The relative positions of the half-cystines are almost identical to those of monocyte-derived neutrophil chemotactic factor (MDNCF), a peptide of similar mass but with only 24% sequence identity to GDCF. Thus, GDCF and MDNCF have a similar gross secondary structure because of the loops formed by the clustered disulfides, and their different leukocyte specificities are most likely determined by the large differences in primary sequence.

Production and characterization of human glioma cell-derived monocyte chemotactic factor

Since infiltration of monocytes into tumors may be mediated by tumor-derived chemoattractants, we characterized the monocyte-chemotactic activity (MCA) produced by glioma cell lines. The amount of MCA in the culture fluid of five lines tested differed by a factor of 25. U-105MG, the best producer, was selected for further study. After cells reached confluence and the medium was changed, MCA was detected by day 3 and remained at comparable levels on days 4 and 5. The molecular mass of MCA was approximately 17 kilodaltons, and the estimated isoelectric point ranged between pI 7 and pI 9. Because of the high constitutive production of MCA by U-105MG, sufficient material can be obtained for complete chemical characterization of this mediator of inflammation.

Human monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1). Full-length cDNA cloning, expression in mitogen-stimulated blood mononuclear leukocytes, and sequence similarity to mouse competence gene JE

The purpose of this work was to analyze cDNA encoding human monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), previously isolated from glioma cell line culture fluid. Screening of a cDNA library from total poly(A) RNA of glioma cell line U-105MG yielded a clone that coded for the entire MCP-1. Nucleotide sequence analysis and comparison with the amino acid sequence of purified MCP-1 showed that the cDNA clone comprises a 53-nucleotide 5'-non-coding region, an open reading frame coding for a 99-residue protein of which the last 76 residues correspond exactly to pure MCP-1, and a 389-nucleotide 3'-untranslated region. The hydrophobicity of the first 23 residues is typical of a signal peptide. Southern blot analysis of human and animal genomic DNA showed that there is a single MCP-1 gene, which is conserved in several primates. MCP-1 mRNA was induced in human peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes (PBMNLs) by PHA, LPS and IL-1, but not by IL-2, TNF, or IFN-gamma. Among proteins with similar sequences, the coding regions of MCP-1 and mouse JE show 68% identity. This suggest that MCP-1 is the human homologue of the mouse competence gene JE.

Staphylococcus aureus tetrapeptide with high chemotactic potency and efficacy for human leukocytes

A chemotactic tetrapeptide from culture fluids of Staphylococcus aureus was purified to homogeneity by reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography. The peptide comprises equimolar methionine, leucine, isoleucine, and phenylalanine. It inhibited binding of fluoresceinated fMet-Leu-Phe-Lys to human monocytes, which showed that it interacted with the formyl-methionyl peptide receptor and suggested that it was a formyl-methionyl peptide. Based on a comparison of dose-response curves for inhibition of fluoresceinated fMet-Leu-Phe-Lys binding, the relative affinity of the peptide for the receptor was comparable to that of fMet-Leu-Phe-Lys. At optimal concentrations, chemotactic efficacy (percentage of monocytes migrating to the attractant) was 53 +/- 4%, in contrast to 36 +/- 3% for the reference attractant fMet-Leu-Phe. Since approximately 60% of human monocytes have formyl-peptide receptors, the bacterial peptide is capable of attracting all receptor-bearing monocytes.

Three forms of monocyte-derived neutrophil chemotactic factor (MDNCF) distinguished by different lengths of the amino-terminal sequence

Human monocyte-derived neutrophil chemotactic factor (MDNCF) was purified from culture supernatant of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes on a column of Sepharose-bound murine monoclonal anti-MDNCF. About 65% of the culture fluid chemotactic activity was bound to the column. The unbound 35% probably represents chemotactic activity of other cytokines in the culture fluid. More than 85% of the bound activity was eluted by pH 2.5 glycine buffer. When this material was applied to an HPLC-CM column, gradient elution produced four well-separated A280 peaks, each of which had chemotactic activity. N-terminal amino acid analysis of the four peaks revealed three different sequences. One (MDNCF-c) was identical to the sequence that we reported previously. The other two (MDNCF-a and -b) had seven and five additional amino acids, respectively, at the N-terminus. MDNCF-a, -b and -c accounted for 8, 47 and 45% of the total MDNCF peptide. Alignment with the MDNCF cDNA sequence shows that MDNCF-a results from cleavage of a 20 residue signal peptide. MDNCF-c results from culture fluid proteolytic cleavage of the N-terminal sequences of MDNCF-a and -b at an R-S bond. The three peptides occurred in the four HPLC-CM peaks in different ratios. The bulk of any one peptide was distributed in two adjacent HPLC-CM peaks. This suggests that each peptide exists in a minimum of two states. In contrast to our previous multi-step purification, the immunoaffinity and HPLC-CM column sequence resulted in complete purification of MDNCF in two steps and led to identification of two additional MDNCF peptides, one of which has not heretofore been detected.

Synthesis and biological characterization of monocyte-derived neutrophil chemotactic factor

MDNCF is a human monocyte-derived, 72-residue chemotactic peptide, which has sequence similarity with members of a family of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The peptide was synthesized by the solid-phase method, and is identical to the natural peptide in amino acid composition, sequence and chemotactic potency. MDNCF forms two loops via a neighboring pair of disulfide bridges, the probable locations of which are residues 7-34 and 9-50. Reduction and alkylation eliminated chemotactic activity. MDNCF fragments 7-37, 30-72 and 17-72 were all biologically inactive. The data suggest that the region of the clustered pair of disulfide bridges is important for biological activity.

Molecular cloning of a human monocyte-derived neutrophil chemotactic factor (MDNCF) and the induction of MDNCF mRNA by interleukin 1 and tumor necrosis factor

The cDNA coding for human monocyte-derived neutrophil-specific chemotactic factor (MDNCF) was cloned from LPS-stimulated human monocyte mRNA. The cDNA sequence codes for a polypeptide consisting of 99 amino acids, including a putative signal sequence. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence with the NH2-terminal amino acid sequence of natural MDNCF shows that the mature functional protein comprises 72 amino acids, beginning with serine at residue 28. The deduced amino acid sequence shows striking similarity to several platelet-derived factors, a v-src-induced protein, a growth-regulated gene product (gro), and an IFN-gamma inducible protein. The availability of the MDNCF cDNA enabled us to use it as a probe to identify inducers of MDNCF mRNA expression in human PBMC. MDNCF mRNA was increased greater than 10-fold within 1 h after stimulation with LPS, IL-1, or TNF, but not by IFN-gamma, IFN-alpha, or IL-2. Furthermore, we also determined that LPS, IL-1, and TNF stimulated the mononuclear cells to produce biologically active MDNCF. This observation may account for the in vivo capacity of IL-1 and TNF to induce netrophil infiltrates.

The activities of cytokines are pleiotropic and interdependent

Many cytokines with multiple effects on the growth and functions of a wide variety of target cells have been discovered. Consequently, cytokines may exhibit considerable overlap in their biological effects on lymphoid, myeloid and connective tissue target cells. Even biologically distinct cytokines may have similar effects by initiating the production of a cascade of identical cytokines or of one another. The benefits of this apparent redundancy and interdependence of these activities remain to be established. Our information concerning cytokines is still far from complete, as illustrated by the recent characterization of a novel chemotactic cytokine and identification of a family of related mediators.

Purification of a human monocyte-derived neutrophil chemotactic factor that has peptide sequence similarity to other host defense cytokines

Stimulated human monocytes release several proteins thought to play a role in inflammation, including interleukin 1, tumor necrosis factor, and plasminogen activator. We have purified another proinflammatory protein that is chemotactic for human neutrophils from conditioned medium of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated monocytes. After a series of steps that included anion-exchange chromatography, gel filtration, and HPLC on cation-exchange and reverse-phase columns, an apparently pure protein was obtained that migrated as a single 7-kDa band on NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gels under reducing or nonreducing conditions. The amino acid composition of this monocyte-derived neutrophil chemotactic factor was different from that of interleukin 1 and tumor necrosis factor. N-terminal amino acid sequence of the first 42 residues was determined. This portion of the molecule has up to 56% sequence similarity with several proteins that may be involved in host responses to infection or tissue injury. It is identical to a portion of a sequence deduced from an mRNA induced by staphylococcal enterotoxin treatment of human leukocytes. At the optimal concentration of 10 nM, 50% of neutrophils added to chemotaxis assay wells migrated toward the pure attractant. Potency and efficacy are comparable to that of fMet-Leu-Phe, which is often used as a reference. In contrast to many attractants, the protein was not chemotactic for human monocytes.

A series of six ligands for the human formyl peptide receptor: tetrapeptides with high chemotactic potency and efficacy

We recently isolated, from culture fluids of Staphylococcus aureus, a chemotactic peptide that comprised equimolar quantities of methionine, leucine, phenylalanine, and isoleucine. It interacted with the formylmethionyl peptide receptor of human leukocytes and had considerably higher potency and efficacy than the widely studied tripeptide agonist fMet-Leu-Phe. On the assumption that the attractant was a formylmethionyl tetrapeptide, we synthesized the six possible sequences and tested the products for chemotactic potency and efficacy, as well as their capacity to inhibit binding of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled fMet-Leu-Phe-Lys to human monocytes. The concentrations required for inhibition of fluorescein-labeled fMet-Leu-Phe-Lys binding by the six peptides covered three orders of magnitude. Chemotactic potency (concentration that caused 50% of the maximum chemotactic response) ranged from 3.1 X 10(-11) M to 6.4 X 10(-10) M; efficacy (percentage of monocytes migrating at optimal attractant concentration) ranged from 41% to 66%. When the six synthetic tetrapeptides were ranked for chemotactic efficacy, they paired according to the position of phenylalanine. The average percentage migration was 66% for the two peptides with phenylalanine in position 3, 51% for phenylalanine in position 4, and 41% for phenylalanine in position 2. Since the published value for the percentage of human monocytes with detectable formyl peptide receptors is 60%, it is apparent that the two tetrapeptides with phenylalanine in position 3 (fMet-Ile-Phe-Leu and fMet-Leu-Phe-Ile) are full chemotactic agonists, which are capable of inducing migration of all the receptor-bearing cells. This is in contrast to the tripeptide fMet-Leu-Phe, which induces migration of only 50% of monocytes with receptors (efficacy of 33%). Since the chemotactic efficacy of the six tetrapeptides covers a wide range, the series may be useful to investigate signals that lead to directed movement after occupancy of receptors by chemoattractants.

Neutrophil chemotactic factor produced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated human blood mononuclear leukocytes: partial characterization and separation from interleukin 1 (IL 1)

LPS stimulated human blood mononuclear leukocytes to produce a chemotactic factor for human neutrophils. The effect of LPS was dose-dependent; 10 micrograms/ml was optimal for production of chemotactic factor. Chemotactic activity was detected 3 hr after LPS stimulation, and reached its peak at 12 hr. No activity was detected in culture supernatants of unstimulated cells, provided LPS-free media were selected. Isoelectric point of the factor, determined by chromatofocusing, was approximately 8 to 8.5. Molecular weight was approximately 10 kilodaltons by Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration or by HPLC gel filtration on TSK-2000 and -3000 columns in succession. The gel filtration fractions were also assayed for IL 1 activity. The elution position of IL 1 activity corresponded to a m.w. of 18. There was no chemotactic activity in the IL 1 activity peak. Furthermore, highly purified natural Il 1 alpha and -beta and recombinant Il 1 alpha and -beta did not exhibit chemotactic activity for neutrophils in our assay. Among mononuclear leukocytes, the monocyte was the principal producer of neutrophil chemotactic factor. These results suggest that a chemotactic factor for neutrophils, different from IL 1, is produced by LPS-stimulated blood monocytes.

Neutrophil chemotactic factor produced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated human blood mononuclear leukocytes: partial characterization and separation from interleukin 1 (IL 1)

LPS stimulated human blood mononuclear leukocytes to produce a chemotactic factor for human neutrophils. The effect of LPS was dose-dependent; 10 micrograms/ml was optimal for production of chemotactic factor. Chemotactic activity was detected 3 hr after LPS stimulation, and reached its peak at 12 hr. No activity was detected in culture supernatants of unstimulated cells, provided LPS-free media were selected. Isoelectric point of the factor, determined by chromatofocusing, was approximately 8 to 8.5. Molecular weight was approximately 10 kilodaltons by Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration or by HPLC gel filtration on TSK-2000 and -3000 columns in succession. The gel filtration fractions were also assayed for IL 1 activity. The elution position of IL 1 activity corresponded to a m.w. of 18. There was no chemotactic activity in the IL 1 activity peak. Furthermore, highly purified natural Il 1 alpha and -beta and recombinant Il 1 alpha and -beta did not exhibit chemotactic activity for neutrophils in our assay. Among mononuclear leukocytes, the monocyte was the principal producer of neutrophil chemotactic factor. These results suggest that a chemotactic factor for neutrophils, different from IL 1, is produced by LPS-stimulated blood monocytes.

Dynamics of chemotactic peptide-induced superoxide generation by human monocytes

Addition of the chemotactic peptide, f-Met-Leu-Phe, to human monocytes induced a burst of superoxide release, which ceased after approximately 3 min. Diminished responsiveness to f-Met-Leu-Phe, but not to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), was induced by 1- to 3-h storage at 0 degrees C or by 2 min in 40 microM adenosine (ADO). Reversal of the ADO block was achieved by addition of adenosine deaminase (ADA) as little as 15 sec before the f-Met-Leu-Phe stimulus; ADA had no effect when added poststimulus. The ADO experiments suggest that there are a minimum of two sequentially produced intermediates in the f-Met-Leu-Phe stimulus-response pathway. The first intermediate persists for less than 30 sec. The second, formation of which is stimulated by the first, persists for the duration of the response and is the target of ADO inhibition. The ADO target is apparently not protein kinase-C, since the response of inhibited cells to PMA was unimpaired. The maximal inhibition by adenosine of f-Met-Leu-Phe-induced superoxide generation was approximately 50%. It is possible that f-Met-Leu-Phe stimulates two pathways of NADPH activation, only one of which is inhibited by adenosine.

Two populations of human blood basophils: effect of prednisone on circulating numbers

In a previous study, human blood basophils were separated by centrifugation on Percoll gradients into two fractions, band 1 and band 2, that differed in density and histamine content. In this study, the change in circulating numbers of band 1 and band 2 basophils, as well as other leukocytes, was measured after a single oral dose of prednisone. Three hours after ingestion of 50 mg of prednisone, the circulating number of band 1 basophils was 19 +/- 4% of the preprednisone value, whereas the band 2 level was 87 +/- 18% (SEM for five subjects). At 6 hours, values were 10 +/- 1% and 41 +/- 7% for band 1 and band 2, respectively. Circulating numbers of both basophil populations returned to near normal at 24 hours. The 3-hour response to a 10 mg oral dose in seven subjects was 28 +/- 5% and 89 +/- 10% of preprednisone levels for band 1 and band 2; the 6-hour responses were 28 +/- 7% and 84 +/- 7%. The 3-hour responses of other leukocytes in four of these subjects, expressed as a percentage of preprednisone counts were neutrophils, 171 +/- 27%; lymphocytes, 47 +/- 6%; monocytes, 36 +/- 9%; and eosinophils, 26 +/- 11%. The results demonstrate that band 2 basophils have a lower sensitivity to glucocorticoid action than do band 1 basophils or other types of circulating leukocytes.

Synergistic action of adenosine and fMet-Leu-Phe in raising cAMP content of purified human monocytes

The content of cAMP was measured in monocytes treated with fMet-Leu-Phe and adenosine, either singly or in combination. Adenosine caused a small and variable rise in cAMP, which was considerably less than that caused by fMet-Leu-Phe. The rise induced by peptide plus adenosine was twice the sum of the increases caused by each agent alone. An inhibitor of phosphodiesterase also enhanced the adenosine-induced rise in cAMP. The data suggest that the increase in cAMP by adenosine-induced cyclase activation is limited by the activity of phosphodiesterase, and that the latter can be inhibited by fMet-Leu-Phe.

Chemoattractant efficacy: oxidation of stimulus by responding cells

Although all human neutrophils have receptors for formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, only 20-30% migrate in vitro at optimal attractant concentrations. Since this attractant can be oxidized by myeloperoxidase from stimulated neutrophils, we determined if its efficacy was increased by protection from oxidation. Efficacy was increased by reducing agents and by molecules with oxidizable sulfur, 10(-5) M methionine or 1.5 X 10(-6) M albumin. The antioxidant effect was on the attractant, not the cells: albumin in the cell compartment did not increase responses. Furthermore, antioxidants had no effect on efficacy of fNle-Leu-Phe-Nle-Tyr-Lys, an attractant that also stimulated superoxide release but had no oxidizable sulfur.

Staphylococcus aureus-derived chemoattractant activity for human monocytes

Products of bacteria are potent chemoattractants for mammalian leukocytes. Several reports suggest that these attractants are small peptides. We compared the properties of culture fluids of Staphylococcus aureus with fMet-Leu-Phe, considered a prototype of bacterial attractant. Chemotactic activity for human monocytes of Staph. aureus culture filtrates was determined in multiwell chemotaxis chambers. At optimal concentrations, the filtrate attracted almost twice as many monocytes as fMet-Leu-Phe (53 +/- 5% of input number compared with 30 +/- 3%, in a series of ten experiments). Gel-filtration characteristics and susceptibility to proteolytic digestion suggested that chemotactic activity was due to peptides with a molecular size range of 500-2,000 daltons. Reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) of unfractionated filtrate revealed nine peaks of chemotactic activity, most of which was in five of the peaks. One peak accounted for 40% of total activity. Individual peaks, like the unfractionated material, were capable of attracting about twice as many monocytes as the optimal concentration of fMet-Leu-Phe. Quantitative bioassay of the HPLC peaks showed that only 5% of the total Staph. aureus chemotactic activity eluted in the position of fMet-Leu-Phe. This is in contrast to the report that fMet-Leu-Phe accounted for 70% of neutrophil lysosomal enzyme-releasing activity of Escherichia coli culture fluid. In summary, chemotactic activity for monocytes of Staph. aureus culture fluid is due to peptides other than fMet-Leu-Phe; these peptides recruit a higher percentage of monocytes than fMet-Leu-Phe.

Disposable microliter immunoabsorbent columns: construction and operation

Disposable microliter immunoabsorbent columns were constructed from pasteur pipets. The bed support was a cube of gelatin surgical sponge, which was tamped into the pipet tip. Column dead space, represented by the compressed volume of the sponge, was 5 microliters. The columns were used with protein A-Sepharose; settled bed volumes were 50 microliters. It was possible to pour columns that functioned as immunoabsorbents with bed volumes as small as 10 microliters. There was no gravity flow through these columns. Flow was achieved by touching column tips to absorbent paper if liquid was to be discarded or to 50 microliters capillary tubes for fluid collection. A simple capillary collection tube assembly was designed for operation of a row of 10 columns at a time. In a test system of [3H]methotrexate and IgG anti-methotrexate, 90% of applied antigen was bound to antibody columns, whereas 90% was recovered in the eluates from control columns. The columns were used in the initial step of screening uncloned hybridoma culture fluids for anti-MSP.

Separation of human basophils into two fractions with different density and histamine content

We designed experiments in this study to test the hypothesis suggested by recent purification data that blood basophils comprise two populations of different density, which circulate in numbers characteristic for each human subject. Basophils were separated into two density bands by single step centrifugation on a discontinuous Percoll gradient. Band 1 cells were at the interface between plasma and Percoll of density 1.070 gm/ml. Band 2 cells were at the Percoll 1.070 to 1.080 interface. When the number of band 1 basophils was expressed as a percentage of the total in bands 1 and 2, this relative amount generally remained in a narrow range for blood obtained from the same donor on 3 successive days but differed markedly in different individuals. In a series of leukapheresis experiments, we demonstrated that the percentage of band 1 basophils in postleukapheresis venous blood was strikingly similar to the preleukapheresis value. If basophils that repopulated the leukapheresis-depleted circulation came from the bone marrow, we can conclude that blood levels of basophils in bands 1 and 2 are under physiologic control and that the two types of basophils are released in amounts characteristic for each human subject. Additional evidence for two distinct blood basophil populations was provided by histamine measurements. The histamine content per basophil was consistently higher in cells from band 1 than from band 2, the mean difference between pairs of values for 30 subjects being 0.3 +/- 0.04 pg or about 27% of the band 1 basophil histamine content of 1.1 pg.

Analysis of human monocyte chemoattractant binding by flow cytometry

The chemotactic peptide fMet-Leu-Phe-Lys is a potent chemoattractant for human blood monocytes. However, only one-third of the monocytes respond. To determine whether or not lack of response reflected absence of attractant receptors, we equilibrated peripheral blood mononuclear cells with fMet-Leu-Phe-Lys-FITC and analyzed binding by flow cytometry. The fluoresceinated peptide bound rapidly at 0 degree C, and the amount bound approached saturation with increasing concentration. The percentage of blood monocytes that bound the peptide was 60 +/- 8 (SEM for seven experiments). In contrast, only 36 +/- 3% (SEM for 16 experiments) of monocytes responded to the attractant by directed migration. It follows that, among the 64 nonmigrating monocytes per 100 total monocytes, approximately 40, or two-thirds of them, fail to bind attractant; the remaining one-third bind attractant but do not respond with directed movement.

Defective vaccine-induced immunity to Schistosoma mansoni in P strain mice. II. Analysis of cellular responses

Cellular immune responses against larval and adult schistosome antigens were studied in attenuated cercariae-vaccinated P and C57BL/6 mice to define differences correlating with the inability of P mice to develop vaccine-induced resistance to challenge Schistosoma mansoni infection. Vaccinated P mice failed to demonstrate delayed hypersensitivity upon skin-testing with soluble worm antigens, whereas mice of the highly resistant strain C57BL/6 developed a significant 24-hr response to worm antigens in vivo. Also, when schistosome antigens were injected i.p., vaccinated P mice failed to exhibit an activated macrophage response in vivo, whereas vaccinated C57BL/6 mice developed macrophages with significant larvicidal and tumoricidal activity at the site of specific antigen challenge. Immune sera from either vaccinated C57BL/6 or P mice were equally effective at opsonizing the schistosomula targets in the larvicidal assay. In vitro analyses of cellular defects revealed that although T lymphocytes from vaccinated P mice showed blastogenic responses to schistosome antigens that were similar in magnitude and kinetics to those of cells from the C57BL/6 animals, T cells from C57BL/6 mice produced higher levels of macrophage-activating lymphokines (LK), including gamma-interferon. Macrophages from control C57BL/6 mice were also more responsive to activation by LK than macrophages from P mice were, as assessed by stimulation of these cells to kill skin-stage schistosomula in vitro. These two aspects of cellular dysfunction in P mice had the combined effect of rendering P macrophages incapable of activation by LK from mice of their own strain, whereas macrophages from C57BL/6 mice were strongly activated by LK from vaccinated C57BL/6 mice in the same assays. Thus, a correlation exists between T lymphocyte/macrophage dysfunction and lack of resistance to challenge infection in vaccinated P mice, which suggests that delayed hypersensitivity response plays a major role in the immunity to S. mansoni infection that is induced by exposure to radiation-attenuated cercariae.

Defective vaccine-induced immunity to Schistosoma mansoni in P strain mice. II. Analysis of cellular responses

Cellular immune responses against larval and adult schistosome antigens were studied in attenuated cercariae-vaccinated P and C57BL/6 mice to define differences correlating with the inability of P mice to develop vaccine-induced resistance to challenge Schistosoma mansoni infection. Vaccinated P mice failed to demonstrate delayed hypersensitivity upon skin-testing with soluble worm antigens, whereas mice of the highly resistant strain C57BL/6 developed a significant 24-hr response to worm antigens in vivo. Also, when schistosome antigens were injected i.p., vaccinated P mice failed to exhibit an activated macrophage response in vivo, whereas vaccinated C57BL/6 mice developed macrophages with significant larvicidal and tumoricidal activity at the site of specific antigen challenge. Immune sera from either vaccinated C57BL/6 or P mice were equally effective at opsonizing the schistosomula targets in the larvicidal assay. In vitro analyses of cellular defects revealed that although T lymphocytes from vaccinated P mice showed blastogenic responses to schistosome antigens that were similar in magnitude and kinetics to those of cells from the C57BL/6 animals, T cells from C57BL/6 mice produced higher levels of macrophage-activating lymphokines (LK), including gamma-interferon. Macrophages from control C57BL/6 mice were also more responsive to activation by LK than macrophages from P mice were, as assessed by stimulation of these cells to kill skin-stage schistosomula in vitro. These two aspects of cellular dysfunction in P mice had the combined effect of rendering P macrophages incapable of activation by LK from mice of their own strain, whereas macrophages from C57BL/6 mice were strongly activated by LK from vaccinated C57BL/6 mice in the same assays. Thus, a correlation exists between T lymphocyte/macrophage dysfunction and lack of resistance to challenge infection in vaccinated P mice, which suggests that delayed hypersensitivity response plays a major role in the immunity to S. mansoni infection that is induced by exposure to radiation-attenuated cercariae.

Macrophages as effector cells of protective immunity in murine schistosomiasis: macrophage activation in mice vaccinated with radiation-attenuated cercariae

Cell-mediated immune responses contributing to macrophage activation were compared in mice that demonstrated partial resistance to challenge Schistosoma mansoni infection as a result of vaccination with radiation-attenuated cercariae or of ongoing low-grade primary infection. Vaccinated mice developed significant delayed hypersensitivity reactions to soluble schistosome antigens in vivo. Splenocytes from vaccinated animals responded to in vitro culture with various specific antigens (soluble adult worm extract, living or disrupted schistosomula) by proliferation and production of macrophage-activating lymphokines as did lymphocytes from S. mansoni-infected animals. Macrophage-activating factors produced by spleen cells from vaccinated mice upon specific antigen stimulation eluted as a single peak on Sephadex G-100 with a molecular weight of approximately 50,000 and contained gamma interferon activity. Moreover, peritoneal macrophages with larvicidal and tumoricidal activity were recovered from vaccinated mice after intraperitoneal challenge with soluble schistosome antigens, a procedure also observed to elicit activated macrophages in S. mansoni-infected animals. These observations demonstrate that vaccination with irradiated cercariae stimulates many of the same cellular responses observed after primary S. mansoni infection, and suggest that lymphokine-activated macrophages may participate in the effector mechanism of vaccine-induced and concomitant immunity to challenge schistosome infection. This is the first demonstration of a potential immune effector mechanism in the irradiated vaccine model.

Functional characterization of lymphokines from the EL-4 T cell line that activate macrophages for nonspecific tumor cytotoxicity

Culture fluids from a phorbol myristate acetate-stimulated EL-4 thymoma cell line were previously found to activate mouse macrophages to become nonspecifically tumoricidal. By gel filtration, 23,000- and 45,000-MW peaks were identified. In this study we compared EL-4 culture fluid activity with that obtained from antigen-stimulated mouse spleen cells. By four criteria, functional activity from the two sources was comparable: 1) Macrophage activation could be separated temporally into two steps, priming and triggering. 2) Macrophages activated by the fluids exhibited peak cytotoxic activity within 5-9 hr; no cytotoxic activity was demonstrable if addition of target cells was delayed 14 hr. 3) Mouse peritoneal exudate macrophages, but not resident macrophages, became cytotoxic after a 5-hr incubation with culture fluids. 4) Macrophages from certain strains of mice were incapable of activation; the same pattern of strain unresponsiveness was observed with both EL-4 and spleen cell culture fluids. Thus, it is likely that the two EL-4 products and the mouse spleen cell lymphokine activate the same cytotoxic mechanism.