LEC induces chemotaxis and adhesion by interacting with CCR1 and CCR8

Liver-expressed chemokine (LEC) is an unusually large CC chemokine, which i s also known as LMC, HCC-4, NCC-4, and CCL16, Previously, LEC was shown to induce leukocyte migration but the responsible signaling receptors were not characterized, We report chemotaxis and competitive binding studies that s how LEC binds to and activates CCR1 and CCR8 transfected HEK-293 cells, LEC induced maximal migration of CCR1 and CCR8 transfected cells at 89.3 nmol/ L and cell adhesion at 5.6 nmol/L, The molar concentration of LEC required to induce maximum cell migration is 20- to 200-fold greater than that requi red for RANTES or 1309, respectively. All 3 chemokines induced maximal stat ic adhesion at 5 to 7 nmol/L. A neutralizing polyclonal antibody to LEC was developed to demonstrate that the unusually high concentration of LEC requ ired to induce chemotaxis was a property of LEC end not as a result of an i rrelevant protein contamination. This study suggests that LEC may be a more effective inducer of cell adhesion than cell migration. (C) 2000 by The Am erican Society of Hematology.