Necrotic cells induce and promote inflammatory responses in vitro / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of necrotic cells on the secretion of inflammatory cytokines.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RAW264.7 macrophages and necrotic mouse thymocytes induced by heating were incubated for 18 h at a ratio of 51 in the absence or presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 100 ng/ml). The supernatant of the cell culture was collected and the expression and secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokines were measured using Bio-Plex suspension system.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The secretions of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interlukine-6 (IL-6) by macrophages co-cultured with the necrotic cells were significantly enhanced as compared with the control cells. The necrotic cells also significantly augmented the secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokines induced by LPS.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Necrotic cells not only induces pro-inflammatory cytokine expression by themselves but also work synergistically with LPS to enhance the cytokine production, suggesting the important roles of necrotic cells to initiate and maintain the inflammatory responses.</p>