Mechanisms of pertussis toxin inhibition of lymphocyte-HEV interactions. I. Analysis of lymphocyte homing receptor-mediated binding mechanisms

Adhesion molecule cascades direct lymphocyte recirculation and leukocyte migration during inflammation

Leukocyte interactions with vascular endothelium are highly orchestrated processes that include the capture of free-flowing leukocytes from the blood with subsequent leukocyte rolling, arrest, firm adhesion, and ensuing diapedesis. These interactions occur under high shear stresses within venules and depend on multiple families of adhesion molecules. Many of the adhesion molecules involved are now identified. In addition, precise mechanisms underlying their regulation and our understanding of how different families of adhesion molecules work together is becoming clearer. Specifically, leukocyte/endothelial cell interactions such as capture, rolling, and firm adhesion can no longer be viewed as occurring in discrete steps mediated by individual families of adhesion molecules, but rather as a series of overlapping synergistic interactions among adhesion molecules resulting in an adhesion cascade. Although long thought to be mediated by distinct adhesion pathways, overlapping adhesion cascades mediate normal lymphocyte recirculation to peripheral lymphoid tissues and inflammation-induced leukocyte migration. These cascades thereby direct leukocyte migration, which is essential for the generation of effective inflammatory responses and the development of rapid immune responses.

Marked increase in L-selectin-negative T cells in neonatal pertussis. The lymphocytosis explained?

The detailed immunophenotype of peripheral blood lymphocytes from a neonate with pertussis was determined by flow cytometry and compared with results from cord blood from healthy newborns. Most (72%) of the lymphocytes were CD3+ T cells with a normal CD4/CD8 ratio (2.5). The T cells were largely HLA-DR negative and CD45RA+, consistent with unstimulated naïve T cells. Almost all of the CD4+ T cells were Leu8 (L-selectin, CD62L) negative, while almost all of the CD8+ T cells were CD28+. There was no increase in CD7- CD4+ T cells (Th2-like). No relative increase in CD16/56+ NK cells (5%) or CD19/20+ B cells was seen. The most dramatic finding in this case was the remarkable lack of expression of L-selectin by the T cells. L-selectin expression is associated with homing of peripheral blood lymphocytes to lymph nodes. The dramatic reduction in L-selectin expression of the T lymphocytes in pertussis, perhaps induced by pertussis toxin, likely prevents homing of the T cells to peripheral lymphoid tissues and provides a likely explanation for the marked lymphocytosis noted in this disease.

Anti-CD43 inhibition of T cell homing

The homing of lymphocytes from the blood is controlled by specialized processes of lymphocyte-endothelial cell interaction. Interference with these processes offers the potential to manipulate lymphocyte traffic, and thus to modulate normal and pathologic immune and inflammatory responses. We selected antilymphocyte monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for inhibition of lymphocyte binding in vitro to lymph node high endothelial venules (HEV), specialized vessels that support lymphocyte recruitment into lymph nodes. mAb L11 blocks T cell binding to lymph node and Peyer's patch HEV and inhibits T cell extravasation from the blood into organized secondary lymphoid tissues. In contrast, L11 has no effect on lymphocyte binding to purified vascular ligands for L-selectin, alpha4beta7, or LFA-1, suggesting that it inhibits by a novel mechanism. The L11 antigen is CD43, a sialomucin implicated in vitro in regulation of lymphocyte activation, whose expression is often dysregulated in the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome. CD43 represents a novel target for experimental and therapeutic manipulation of lymphocyte traffic and may help regulate T cell distribution in vivo.

Rapid G protein-regulated activation event involved in lymphocyte binding to high endothelial venules

The homing of blood borne lymphocytes into lymph nodes and Peyer's patches is mediated in part by recognition and binding to specialized high endothelial venules (HEV). Here we demonstrate that a rapid pertussis toxin-sensitive lymphocyte activation event can participate in lymphocyte recognition of HEV. In situ video microscopic analyses of lymphocyte interactions with HEV in exteriorized mouse Peyer's patches reveal that pertussis toxin has no effect on an initial "rolling" displayed by many lymphocytes, but inhibits an activation-dependent "sticking" event required for lymphocyte arrest. This is the first demonstration that physiologic lymphocyte-endothelial interactions can involve sequential rolling, activation, and activation-dependent arrest, previously shown only for neutrophils. The inhibitory effect of the toxin is dependent on its G protein-modifying ADP-ribosyltransferase activity and can be reversed by phorbol myristic acetate, which bypasses cell surface receptors to trigger activation-dependent adhesion. Lymphocyte sticking can occur within 1-3 s after initiation of rolling. We conclude that a rapid receptor-mediated activation event involving G protein signaling can trigger stable lymphocyte attachment to HEV in vivo, and may play a critical role in regulating lymphocyte homing.

Active lymphocyte traffic induced in the periphery by cytokines and phytohemagglutinin: three different mechanisms?

Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) injection induces transient protease-sensitive traffic of lymphocytes in skin and other tissues in several species. Examination of the possible roles of cytokines in such reactions showed that recombinant bovine and human tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha potently induce dose-dependent lymphocyte traffic in pig skin (and in other tissues including the draining lymph nodes) with early kinetics and a morphology of the inflammatory reaction similar to that of PHA (peaking 9-12 h). Recombinant human interleukin (IL)-1 alpha also induces dose-dependent lymphocyte traffic, but it peaks at 4 h. Entry of labeled lymphocytes into inflammatory sites induced by PHA, TNF-alpha and IL-1 alpha, but not into normal skin, is inhibited by approximately 80% by their pretreatment with trypsin, indicative of the induction of endothelial determinants recognized by protease-sensitive surface molecules on the lymphocytes. Even the minimal lymphocyte traffic induced by interferon-gamma and lipopolysaccharide was similarly protease sensitive. At the earliest stage (approximately 2 h) of significant induction of lymphocyte entry by TNF-alpha and IL-1 alpha the inductive signal for each appears easily saturated. Thus lymphocyte entry is little increased by increasing low cytokine doses over 100-fold: However, these reactions are additive, and this was used to confirm that they are distinct from each other and from PHA. A further distinction was revealed by the homing of lymphocytes pretreated with pertussis toxin: such lymphocytes were greater than 90% inhibited in their homing to tissues through constitutive high endothelial venules (HEV) and greater than 60% inhibited in homing to TNF-alpha and IL-1 alpha skin sites, but unaffected in homing to PHA skin sites (like most non-HEV-mediated traffic). Moreover, potent chicken anti-TNF-alpha, which prevented TNF-induced lymphocyte entry, did not affect PHA-induced traffic. Thus, these three agents which induce peripheral lymphocyte traffic appear to involve different mechanisms as shown by differences in (i) their kinetics; (ii) the effect of anti-TNF-alpha and (iii) the effect of pertussis toxin treatment of the lymphocytes and by the fact that their inductive mechanisms are additive in effect.

Effects of supravital fluorochromes used to analyze the in vivo homing of murine lymphocytes on cellular function

A number of supravital fluorochromes are available to study lymphocyte homing in vivo. These include fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), which binds to cell surface proteins; Hoechst 33342, which binds to AT rich regions of cellular DNA; and the lipid bilayer incorporated dyes PKH-2 and PKH-26. The relative advantages and disadvantages of each of these probes for analyzing murine lymphocyte homing are as yet poorly understood. We evaluated the effects of each dye on labeling efficiency, as well as cell viability, homing, mitogen responsiveness and cytotoxicity. PKH-26 provided long-term labeling (up to 15 days) with the least detrimental effects on cellular function. Detection of FITC in vivo was impaired by tissue autofluorescence, and the dye acted as a co-mitogen for lectin or IL-2-induced proliferation. Hoechst 33342 eluted from cells over a few hours and inhibited lymphocyte proliferation. PKH-2 had detrimental effects on cell viability and resulted in the down-modulation of peripheral lymph node homing receptor expression. None of the probes interfered with the induction of cytotoxic lymphocytes by IL-2. While these fluorochromes are easy to use and provide powerful tools to analyze the lymphocyte localization in vivo, our experiments demonstrate that important limitations are imposed by each probe that need to be considered by investigators during the design and interpretation of experiments.