Biochemistry of phagocyte chemotaxis

Cellular changes in bone marrow of malaria-infected mice. III. Chemotaxis of granulocytes

The number of bone marrow cells and their chemotactic activity was studied during malaria infection. Two days after infection of Balb/c mice with Plasmodium berghei, an increase in granulocyte number was observed in the blood. A modified Boyden chamber chemotaxis assay was employed to investigate the mechanism of granulocyte accumulation in the blood. Bone marrow cells from normal mice, from mice during a primary lethal infection and from immune mice after challenge were compared. The complement factor C5a showed chemotactic activity for bone marrow cells; a significant decrease of chemotaxis was only observed after 6 days of primary infection. Extracts of spleen, liver and infected erythrocytes lacked chemotactic activity, or caused inhibition of cell migration. Serum from mice with a 2-day primary infection contained chemotactic activity. The active component was heat labile, protease sensitive and had an estimated molecular weight of 250,000.

Mitochondrial N-formylmethionyl proteins as chemoattractants for neutrophils

Mitochondria synthesize several hydrophobic proteins. Like bacteria, mitochondria initiate protein synthesis with an N-formylmethionine residue. Because N-formylmethionyl peptides have been found to be chemotactic for polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), mitochondria isolated from cultured human cells and purified bovine mitochondrial proteins were tested for PMN chemotactic activity in vitro. Nondisrupted mitochondria were not chemotactic. However, intact mitochondria that had been incubated with a lysosomal lysate did stimulate PMN migration. Antibodies directed against two mitochondrial enzymes, cytochrome oxidase and ATPase, (both of which contain mitochondrially synthesized subunits) but not anti-C3 or anti-C5 decreased mitochondrially derived chemotactic activity. In addition, purified bovine mitochondrial N-formylmethionyl proteins stimulated PMN migration in vitro, whereas nonformylated mitochondrial proteins did not. Furthermore, the chemotactic activity of purified mitochondrial proteins and disrupted mitochondria was decreased by the formyl peptide antagonist butyloxycarbonyl-phenylalanine-leucine-phenylalanine-leucine-phenylalanine. Finally, disrupted mitochondria and purified mitochondrial proteins stimulated PMN-directed migration (chemotaxis), according to accepted criteria. In addition to other chemotactic factors, release of N-formylmethionyl proteins from mitochondria at sites of tissue damage, may play a role in the accumulation of inflammatory cells at these sites.

Effect of staphylococcal alpha-toxin on neutrophil migration and adhesiveness

The effect of staphylococcal alpha-toxin on the chemotactic response of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes was studied by measuring the migration of alpha-toxin-treated cells either through membrane filters toward C5a or under agarose toward N-formyl-l-methionyl-l-phenylalanine. At doses of greater than or equal to 5 hemolytic units, alpha-toxin depressed chemotactic responsiveness in both best systems. Further studies revealed that alpha-toxin was also a potent granulocyte aggregant at doses similar to those necessary for depressed chemotactic capacity. It is proposed that the inhibitory effect of this membrane-active toxin on chemotactic function may be related to increased granulocyte adhesiveness and that the pathogenic properties of alpha-toxin may in part by explained by these effects.

Stimulation of tubulin tyrosinolation in rabbit leukocytes evoked by the chemoattractant formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine

Cellular tubulin is subject to a posttranslational modification involving the reversible addition to tyrosine through peptide linkage to the C-terminal glutamate of the alpha-chain. The synthetic peptide chemoattractant, N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, causes a specific, dose-dependent stimulation of tubulin tyrosinolation in rabbit leukocytes. This stimulation is prevented by carbobenzoxy-phenylalanyl-methionine, benzoyl-tyrosine ethylester, and nordihydroguaiaretic acid, which are all inhibitors of chemotaxis presumed to act via membrane-associated events. The combination of 3-deazaadenosine and homocysteine thiolactone, which inhibits phospholipid methylation, and quinacrine, an inhibitor of phospholipase A2, also abolishes the response to the peptide. Colchicine, however, which causes a marked disassembly of cellular microtubules in these cells and also inhibits chemotaxis, does not have any inhibitory effect on the basal or peptide-stimulated rate of tubulin tyrosinolation. In contrast, taxol, a microtubule-stabilizing agent, has an inhibitory effect on both the basal and peptide-stimulated tyrosine incorporation. Taxol also inhibits chemotaxis in rabbit leukocytes. The results strongly suggest the role of closely linked membrane-cytoskeleton interactions in leukocyte chemotaxis, in which tyrosinolation of tubulin may be functionally involved.

The effects of bovine serum albumin and the chemotactic peptide formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine on the adherence of guinea pig polymorphonuclear leukocytes to nylon fiber columns

Glycogen-induced guinea pig polymorphonuclear leukocytes were passed over nylon fiber columns and adherent and nonadherent fractions were quantitated by determination of hexosaminidase activity after lysis with Triton. Bovine serum albumin reduced the number of adherent cells at 37 degrees C as well as 4 degrees C, after fixation of the cells with glutaraldehyde, and in the absence and presence of EDTA. The chemotactic peptide N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine increased the adherent cell fraction at 37 degrees C, but failed to do so at 4 degrees C, after glutaraldehyde fixation and in the presence of 10 mmol/EDTA. Since metabolic inhibitors had no effect on the rate of adherence it is suggested that increased cell deformability is responsible for chemotactic factor-induced increased cell attachment to nylon fibers.

Adult tissues contain chemoattractants for vascular endothelial cells

New blood vessel formation, or angiogenesis, occurs through the migration of endothelial cells in elongated sprouts. These sprouts are directed preferentially towards the inciting stimulus. Several studies have demonstrated that certain chemical substances can stimulate angiogenesis. In these cases, endothelial cell migration towards the chemical stimulus may be due to a preferential migration of cells from lower to higher concentrations of the mediator. Such concentration gradient-dependent cellular migration has been termed chemotaxis. Using a modification of the Boyden chamber technique to measure chemotaxis in vitro, we have now found that extracts of various adult bovine tissues have potent chemotactic activity for vascular endothelial cells. Adult bovine serum lacks similar chemotactic activity.