M. Takahashi et al., INDUCTION OF MONOCYTE CHEMOATTRACTANT PROTEIN-1 SYNTHESIS IN HUMAN MONOCYTES DURING TRANSENDOTHELIAL MIGRATION IN-VITRO, Circulation research, 76(5), 1995, pp. 750-757
Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1, or monocyte chemotactic and
activating factor) plays important roles in the recruitment of monocy
tes and thus in the development of atherosclerosis. In this study, we
determined whether MCP-1 synthesis was induced by the cellular interac
tion between monocytes and endothelial cells during the process of tra
nsendothelial migration. We found that when human peripheral blood mon
ocytes (2.5X10(6) cells) and umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs;
5.0x10(5) cells) were cocultured for 5 hours, 7.9 ng/mL MCP-1 was sec
reted into the medium, whereas when the two were cultured separately,
MCP-1 levels were 1.0 and 0.9 ng/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the us
e of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta)-pretreated HUVECs in cocultures in
duced twice the levels of MCP-1 as in unstimulated HUVEC culture. Cond
itioned medium had transendothelial chemotactic activity for monocytes
, and this activity was completely abolished by addition of anti-MCP-1
antibody. Although MCP-1 mRNA levels were very low or undetectable in
HUVECs or monocytes alone, message could be detected after 2 hours of
coculture in total mRNA preparations from both monocytes and HUVECs.
mRNA levels increased by 4 hours and had declined slightly by 24 hours
. The rapid induction of message suggests that cell contact between mo
nocytes and HUVECs induces the de novo synthesis of MCP-1 protein. Ant
i-interleukin (IL)-1 alpha/beta and anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha a
ntibodies, or anti-lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 and very l
ate antigen-4 antibodies, had little or no inhibitory effects on MCP-1
secretion by cocultures. Immunohistochemistry revealed that monocytes
adherent to or having migrated across unstimulated HUVEC monolayers a
s well as the HUVECs themselves expressed MCP-1 protein. However, nona
dherent monocytes failed to express it. This finding suggests that the
monocyte- endothelial cell adhesive interaction results in an MCP-1-i
nductive signal to each cell type. MCP-1 expression by migrated monocy
tes may indicate that monocytes are primed to produce MCP-1 during tra
nsmigration and can secrete it in normal tissue in which inflammatory
cytokines that induce MCP-1 are otherwise absent.