The purification and characterization of a lymphokine chemotactic for lymphocytes--lymphotactin

Functional diversity of chemokines and chemokine receptors in response to viral infection of the central nervous system

Encounters with neurotropic viruses result in varied outcomes ranging from encephalitis, paralytic poliomyelitis or other serious consequences to relatively benign infection. One of the principal factors that control the outcome of infection is the localized tissue response and subsequent immune response directed against the invading toxic agent. It is the role of the immune system to contain and control the spread of virus infection in the central nervous system (CNS), and paradoxically, this response may also be pathologic. Chemokines are potent proinflammatory molecules whose expression within virally infected tissues is often associated with protection and/or pathology which correlates with migration and accumulation of immune cells. Indeed, studies with a neurotropic murine coronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), have provided important insight into the functional roles of chemokines and chemokine receptors in participating in various aspects of host defense as well as disease development within the CNS. This chapter will highlight recent discoveries that have provided insight into the diverse biologic roles of chemokines and their receptors in coordinating immune responses following viral infection of the CNS.

Expression of SCM-1alpha/lymphotactin and SCM-1beta in natural killer cells is upregulated by IL-2 and IL-12

Recruitment of lymphocytes is an important feature of the host immune response against pathogens. However, the mechanisms by which lymphocytes are attracted are not yet fully understood. Recently, the cDNA of a lymphocyte-specific chemokine, lymphotactin (Lptn), was isolated from murine and human T cells and was also found to be expressed in murine NK cells and human NK cell clones. This study investigated the influence of interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-12 on the expression of Lptn, also known as SCM (single cysteine motif)-1alpha, and SCM-1beta, a 97% homolog of Lptn, in freshly isolated human NK cells and the human NK cell line NK-92. Northern blot analysis and RT-PCR confirmed that nonactivated human NK cells expressed both genes at low level. After activation with IL-2 or IL-12, the expression of both Lptn and SCM-1beta was upregulated within hours. NK-92 cells maintained in medium supplemented with IL-2 constitutively expressed SCM-1 mRNA. However, after 24 h of IL-2 starvation and subsequent culturing at various IL-2 concentrations, the expression of Lptn/SCM-1alpha was upregulated in a dose-dependent manner, whereas the expression of SCM-1beta remained consistently high. These observations indicate that NK cells, in addition to T lymphocytes, express Lptn/SCM-1alpha and SCM-1beta after cytokine activation. The upregulation of these chemokines in NK cells on activation likely acts to increase the number of effector cells reaching the site of an immune response such as inflammation.

Regulation of lymphocyte motility by macrophages: characterization of a lymphocyte migration inhibitory factor derived from a macrophage-like cell line

An inhibitory factor on lymphocyte migration was detected using a capillary random migration assay in the culture supernatant of peritoneal exudate macrophages cultured at concentrations greater than 8 x 10(6) cells/ml. After examining different macrophage-like cell lines, J774A.1 cells were found to produce this inhibitory factor, which was termed lymphocyte migration inhibitory factor (LMIF). The inhibitory effect of LMIF on the migration of spleen lymphocytes, thymocytes, and bone marrow cells was determined. The migration of thymocytes was more sensitive to LMIF than was the migration of spleen lymphocytes and bone marrow cells. Interestingly, when the effect of LMIF was tested on the migration of spleen T cells and B cells, T cells were more sensitive than B cells. When the thymocytes were separated by peanut agglutinin into mature and immature thymocytes, the migration of mature thymocytes was more sensitive than that of immature thymocytes, the migration of mature thymocytes was more sensitive than that of immature thymocytes to the effect of LMIF, suggesting that the greatest effect of LMIF was on the migration of mature T cells. Partial purification of LMIF by ion-exchange and gel-filtration chromatography revealed that it is approximately 14,000 in molecular weight and could exist in either monomeric or dimeric forms. The possible role of this factor in an immune response is discussed.

Modulation of lymphocyte motility by macrophages

Motility of lymphocytes plays a significant role in their functions. Because macrophages frequently associate with lymphocytes in lymphoid tissues and inflammatory sites, they are likely to be important in regulating lymphocyte motility. In this study, we identified a chemokinetic activity in macrophage culture supernatants. Interestingly, this activity could be detected by the capillary migration assay but not by the more commonly used Boyden chamber chemotaxis assay. Colchicine, on the other hand, was chemokinetic for lymphocytes in the Boyden chamber chemotaxis assay but not in the capillary migration assay. Both these observations and previous studies on the morphology of motile lymphocytes on two-dimensional (2-D) surfaces (capillary migration assay) and in 3-D matrices (Boyden chamber chemotaxis assay) suggest that lymphocytes possess more than one motility mechanism--one for 2-D surfaces and one for 3-D matrices. We propose that the macrophage-derived chemokinetic activity described herein only affected the motility mechanism on 2-D surfaces. In addition, we also observed that the chemokinetic activity was produced by "resting" macrophages and could not be augmented by further activation. Finally, the effect was greatest on mature T cells. We propose that this factor plays an important role in facilitating cell interactions within lymphoid tissues and inflammatory sites.

A human T-T-cell hybridoma-derived lymphocyte chemoattractant factor

Human T-T hybridomas were developed as a strategy for obtaining lymphokines that alter T-lymphocyte motility. Mitogen-stimulated human T lymphocytes were fused with cells of the human CEM lymphoma line and the supernatants derived from these fusion products were assessed for chemoattractant activity in a modified Boyden chamber assay. Supernatants from hybridoma 41B2 enhanced lymphocyte migration to 198 +/- 13% (mean +/- SEM) of control. Characterization by Sephadex G-100 molecular sieve chromatography revealed a single peak of chemoattractant activity corresponding to a molecular weight (MW) of 56,000. This activity eluted from a Sephadex QAE anion-exchange column at 4-6 mS. Subsequent isoelectric focusing in sucrose revealed an isoelectric point of 9.0-9.2. Fractions with activity after sequential molecular sieve and anion-exchange chromatography were concentrated, radiolabeled with 125I, and subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Autoradiography revealed a band which corresponded to a MW of 14,000 (representing four similar monomeric chains) and to the region from which chemoattractant activity could be detected in eluates from slices of unstained gels run in parallel. The biological activity of this hybridoma-derived lymphocyte chemoattractant was abolished by treatment with trypsin and neuraminidase but was unaffected by heating to 56 degrees C. We conclude that certain human T-T-cell hybridomas constitutively elaborate a lymphocyte chemoattractant that appears to be physicochemically identical to a previously described human lymphokine, lymphocyte chemoattractant factor.

Histometric study of the localisation of lymphocyte subsets and accessory cells in human Mantoux reactions

Intradermal injection of purified protein derivative produced typical delayed type hypersensitivity reactions in five healthy human subjects. The major subpopulations of lymphocytes and certain accessory cells were located in frozen sections of biopsies of the lesions with monoclonal antibodies and immunohistochemical staining. The densities (expressed as number/unit area for comparison) of the different types of cells were counted at various microanatomical locations in the tissue. The inflammatory cells were concentrated in narrow zones, initially (24 h) only surrounding small blood vessels but later (48-96 h) also around sweat ducts. Lymphocytes were the predominant cell type at these sites with T4 and T8 cells randomly intermixed at a ratio similar to that in the mononuclear cell fraction of the peripheral blood samples removed at the time of biopsy. There was also a scanty diffuse infiltrate in the intervening dermis, but here the T4:T8 ratio was significantly lower than that in the peripheral blood or perivascular cuffs. There was considerable intersubject variation in the relative preponderance of T8 cells in the diffuse infiltrate. The results suggest that there is no subset selection in the initial emigration of lymphocytes through vascular endothelium in the delayed hypersensitivity reaction, but that the subsets behave differently during the subsequent migration through the tissues. It remains to be determined whether the extent to which T8 cells migrate more rapidly than T4 cells through the tissues may influence the reaction at the site of entry of organisms or antigens into the body by altering the balance of the immunoregulatory lymphocyte subsets. This may underlie some of the differences in susceptibility to infection between subjects and determine the type of granuloma that develops in a particular patient.

Modulation of lymphocyte migration by human lymphokines. III. Characterization of a lymphocyte migration inhibitory factor (LyMIF35K)

The lymphokine that augments the migration of nonsensitized T lymphocytes (LCF) has been observed to be predominantly a chemokinetic factor, suggesting that separate lymphocyte migration inhibitory lymphokine(s) might exist. Utilizing a modified Boyden chamber assay, lymphocyte migration inhibitory activity was identified in the culture supernatants of human nylon wool-nonadherent blood mononuclear cells stimulated with concanavalin A in vitro for 48 hr. Sephadex G-100 gel filtration chromatography of these culture supernatants was shown to contain two regions of noncytotoxic migration inhibitory activity for nonsensitized human blood lymphocytes and rat splenic lymphocytes. The 30-40,000 dalton inhibitory activity was further characterized and noted to be cationic by ion-exchange chromatography and isoelectric focusing (pI = 8.6). Its biologic activity was sensitive to neuraminidase and to heat treatment but not to trypsin. The migration inhibitory activity of this factor (LyMIF35K) was directly proportional to its ability to increase lymphocyte adherence.

Stereospecific chemoattraction of lymphoblastic cells by gradients of lysophosphatidylcholine

Human plasma contains chemoattractant activity for cultured cells from the mouse thymic lymphoma 6C3HED and also for lymphoblasts from concanavalin A-stimulated mouse spleen cells. A major portion of the attractant activity for both cell types could be attributed to plasma lysophosphatidylcholine. Studies on synthetic lysophosphatides showed that polar head group structure, acyl chain length, and stereochemical configuration are important determinants for attractant activity.