Induction by immunomodulatory agents of a macrophage antigen recognized by monoclonal antibody 158.2 and correlation with macrophage function

Host and bacterial factors involved in the innate ability of mouse macrophages to eliminate internalized unopsonized Escherichia coli

In an effort to better understand genetic and cellular factors that influence innate immunity, we examined host and bacterial factors involved in the nonopsonic phagocytosis and killing of Escherichia coli K-12 by mouse macrophages. Unelicited (resident) peritoneal macrophages from five different mouse strains, BALB/c, C57BL/6, CD-1, C3H/HeJ, and C3H/HeN, were employed. Additional macrophage populations were obtained from CD-1 mice (bone marrow-derived macrophages). Also, for BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice, peritoneal macrophages elicited with either thioglycolate or proteose peptone, bone marrow-derived macrophages, and macrophage-like cell lines derived from the two strains were employed. Two E. coli K-12 strains that differed specifically in their abilities to produce type 1 pili containing the adhesive protein FimH were examined. The parameters used to assess macrophage bacteriocidal activity were (i) the killing of internalized (gentamicin-protected) E. coli during the approximately 4-h assay and (ii) the initial rate at which internalized E. coli were eliminated. Data on these parameters allowed the following conclusions: (i) unelicited or proteose peptone-elicited peritoneal macrophages were significantly better at eliminating internalized bacteria than thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal macrophages, bone marrow-derived macrophages, or macrophage cell lines; (ii) the host genetic background had no significant effect upon the ability of unelicited peritoneal macrophages to kill E. coli (even though the mouse strains differ widely in their in vivo susceptibilities to bacterial infection); and (iii) the FimH phenotype had no significant effect upon E. coli survival once the bacterium was inside a macrophage. Additionally, there was no correlation between the bacteriocidal effectiveness of a macrophage population and the number of bacteria bound per macrophage. However, macrophage populations that were the least bacteriocidal tended to bind higher ratios of FimH(+) to FimH(-) E. coli. The effect of gamma interferon, fetal calf serum, and the recombination proficiency of E. coli were examined as factors predicted to influence intracellular bacterial killing. These had no effect upon the rate of E. coli elimination by unelicited peritoneal macrophages.

Markers of mouse macrophage development detected by monoclonal antibodies

In this review, we present and discuss a selected panel of antibody-defined markers expressed during different stages of mouse macrophage development. We distinguish four categories of markers, which are characteristic of: (1) macrophage precursors and immature macrophages (ER-MP12, ER-MP20, ER-MP54, ER-MP58); (2) mature macrophages in general (F4/80, BM8, Mac-1, Mac-2, ER-BMDM1); (3) macrophage subsets (ER-HR3, ER-MP23, ER-TR9, Forssman antigen, MOMA-1, MOMA-2, Monts-4, SER-4), and (4) IFN-gamma-stimulated macrophages (H-2Ia, LFA-1, ICAM-1, 158.2, MBR-2, TM-2, TM-4, and TM-5). It should be noted that many of the markers in this last category are inducible by other stimuli as well. The rigid classification of markers into four separate groups should be regarded as a digitalization of a continuum, thus inevitably implicating a simplification of the complex phenotypic changes that occur during mononuclear phagocyte development. Nevertheless, the current selection of antibodies against markers for different developmental stages of macrophages constitutes an important tool for characterization of mouse macrophages which participate in various biological processes.

Gamma interferon induces the appearance of a CD4-, major histocompatibility complex class II+ macrophage subpopulation in the rat peritoneal cavity

Peritoneal cells from gamma interferon (IFN-gamma)-treated rats were phenotypically characterized by flow cytometry. Intraperitoneal inoculation of 3 x 10(4) units of IFN-gamma induced, within 24 h, the appearance of a CD4-, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II+ macrophage subpopulation not present in rats treated with phosphate-buffered saline. IFN-gamma induced an increased expression of MHC class II I-A molecules on both CD4- and CD4+ macrophages. Both cell types adhered to plastic and expressed high levels of the macrophage membrane molecules CD11b and OX41. Histological examination of sorted CD4- and CD4+ macrophages confirmed the macrophage morphology of both populations with less granula in the former. We conclude that the appearance of CD4- macrophages in the peritoneal cavity after inoculation with IFN-gamma most probably reflects a selective recruitment of these cells from blood or surrounding tissues. The function of these cells is still unknown, although strong expression of MHC class II I-A indicates competence as antigen-presenting cells.

Separate and combined effects of recombinant interleukin-1 alpha and gamma interferon on antibacterial resistance

Our laboratory has previously reported that administration of murine recombinant interleukin 1 alpha (rIL-1 alpha) substantially enhanced the resistance of mice to Listeria monocytogenes infection. Other investigators have reported that gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) plays a pivotal role in antilisteria resistance. In the present study, we have defined doses of human rIL-1 alpha that enhanced the antilisteria resistance of mice. We then addressed the possibility that combined immunotherapy with rIL-1 alpha and recombinant IFN-gamma (rIFN-gamma) might result in an additive or synergistic enhancement of antibacterial resistance. Simultaneous administration of rIL-1 alpha and rIFN-gamma enhanced antilisteria resistance (at 3 days after infection) to a greater extent than did either cytokine alone, although the results did not imply a synergistic action between the two cytokines. Experiments which examined the effects of the timing of cytokine administration indicated that maximal protection was observed when rIL-1 alpha and rIFN-gamma were administered together concomitantly with the L. monocytogenes challenge. When we compared the separate and combined protective effects of rIL-1 alpha and rIFN-gamma throughout the course of a primary L. monocytogenes infection, we observed an additive effect of the two cytokines only at 3 days after challenge, the time at which the peak bacterial burden occurs in the spleens and livers of infected mice. Histopathological comparisons of livers and spleens from cytokine-treated and control listeria-infected mice verified that cytokine treatment reduced the severity of tissue damage in cytokine-treated listeria-infected mice. In an attempt to provide a potential mechanism for the protective effects of rIL-1 alpha and rIFN-gamma administration, we compared levels of colony-stimulating activity in sera from cytokine-treated and control listeria-infected mice. The highest levels of colony-stimulating activity were detected in sera from control listeria-infected mice; somewhat lower levels were found in sera from listeria-infected mice that received rIL-1 alpha and rIFN-gamma either alone or in combination.

Expression of Mo3e antigen by cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) stimulated by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and related pharmacological inducers of protein kinase C

Mo3e is a protease-sensitive membrane antigen (p75,50) selectively expressed by human monocytic cells (monocytes and U-937 cells) stimulated in vitro by exposure to a variety of activating factors, including phorbol diester compounds, bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and muramyl dipeptide (MDP)(R.F. Todd et al., J. Immunol. 135, 3869, 1985). Here we report that primary and multiply-passaged cultures of HUVEC also express the Mo3e determinant after stimulation by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and related inducers of protein kinase C. As measured in a radioimmunoassay of anti-Mo3e antibody binding to monolayer cultures of HUVEC, unstimulated cells bore little if any Mo3e. After culture for 4-120 hr in medium containing PMA, 4 beta-phorbol dibutyrate, 4 beta-phorbol didecanoate, or mezerein (each at a concentration of 81 nM), or 1-oleoyl-2-acetoyl-sn-3-glycerol (1 mM), HUVEC were found to selectively express the Mo3e determinant. The magnitude of expression was dependent upon the concentration of the stimulus, maximal by 24 hr, and inhibited by cycloheximide. The combination of PMA and the calcium ionophore, ionomycin, had an additive or synergistic effect on HUVEC Mo3e expression. The biologically inactive phorbol compounds 4 beta-phorbol and 4 alpha-phorbol didecanoate failed to stimulate Mo3e expression. Also inactive as inducers of HUVEC Mo3e expression were crude lymphokine and monokine supernatants, recombinant human lymphokines (interferon-gamma and interleukin-2), recombinant human monokines (interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor), bacterial cell wall products including LPS and MDP, pharmacologic agents that increase intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (prostaglandin E2, cholera toxin, theophylline, isoproterenol and isobutylmethylxanthine), lectins (Con A and PHA), and heparin. These results indicate that Mo3e is an inducible plasma membrane antigen of not only mononuclear phagocytes but also cultured HUVEC.