Structure-activity analysis of the potentiation by aminothiols of the chromosome-damaging effect of bleomycin in G0 human lymphocytes.

The radioprotective aminothiols 2-[(aminopropyl)amino] ethanethiol (WR-1065) and cysteamine (CSM) potentiate the induction of chromosomal damage by the radiomimetic compound bleomycin (BLM) in G0 human lymphocytes. To investigate the mechanism of potentiation, we measured the clastogenic activity of BLM in the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay in the presence and absence of amines, thiols, and aminothiols. The hydroxy analog of WR-1065, 2-(3-aminopropylamino) ethanol (WR-OH), potentiates BLM only slightly, indicating the critical nature of the thiol group. As thiols, WR-1065 and CSM may donate electrons for the activation of Fe(+2)-BLM or for the regeneration of Fe(+2)-BLM from inactive Fe(+3)-BLM. The amines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine all potentiate BLM, but they are weaker potentiators than the aminothiols, and they are effective only at high concentrations. Their activity, like that of WR-OH, is probably a consequence of conformational alteration of DNA. Dithioerythritol (DTE) and 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME), thiols lacking an amino group, are less effective potentiators of BLM than are the aminothiols. The thiol group of WR-1065 and CSM is therefore essential, but insufficient, for explaining the strong enhancement of BLM activity. The cationic nature of CSM and WR-1065, conferred by the amino groups, evidently concentrates the active thiol function at the site of BLM action on DNA. As expected on this basis, the diamine WR-1065 is a more effective potentiator of BLM than is the monoamine CSM, whereas cysteine and N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which lack a net positive charge, potentiate BLM only weakly. These studies suggest that potentiation of the clastogenic action of BLM by aminothiols can be explained by the combination of a thiol-mediated redox mechanism and an amine-mediated targeting of the thiol function to DNA.

Transendothelial chemotaxis of human alpha/beta and gamma/delta T lymphocytes to chemokines.

Two subpopulations of human T lymphocytes expressing different antigen receptors, alpha/beta and gamma/delta, emigrate into inflamed tissues in distinctive patterns. We compared the transmigration of alpha/beta and gamma/delta T cells to C-C and C-X-C chemokines using an in vitro transendothelial chemotaxis assay. The C-C chemokines monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, RANTES, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha and MIP-1beta stimulated similar, dose-dependent chemotaxis of purified gamma/delta T cells, whereas MCP-1, RANTES, and MIP-1alpha produced greater chemotaxis of purified alpha/beta T cells than MIP-1beta. In contrast, the C-X-C chemokines interleukin (IL)-8 and interferon-gamma inducible protein-10 (IP-10) did not promote chemotaxis of either alpha/beta or gamma/delta T cells. Three gamma/delta T cell clones with differing CD4 and CD8 phenotypes also migrated exclusively to C-C chemokines. Phenotypic analysis of mononuclear cells that transmigrated from an input population of unfractionated peripheral blood mononuclear cells confirmed the results with purified gamma/delta T cells. Our data demonstrate that human peripheral blood alpha/beta and gamma/delta T cells can transmigrate to MCP-1, RANTES, MIP-1alpha, and MIP-1beta, and suggest that both T lymphocyte subpopulations share the capacity to emigrate in response to C-C chemokines during inflammation.

Contrasting responses to multiple chemotactic stimuli in transendothelial migration: heterologous desensitization in neutrophils and augmentation of migration in eosinophils.

At inflammatory sites in vivo, leukocytes may confront multiple, competing chemoattractive signals. We found significant differences between eosinophils and neutrophils in transendothelial chemotaxis to a chemoattractant diffusing from the lower chamber, when a chemoattractant that binds to another receptor is present at uniform concentration. The transendothelial migration of eosinophils to FMLP, C5a, RANTES, or MCP-3 was totally inhibited by the presence of the homologous chemoattractant, and only RANTES and MCP-3 showed mutual inhibition. C5a and to a lesser extent FMLP chemokinetically stimulated migration to RANTES and MCP-3, without stimulating random migration. Results with neutrophils contrasted. The presence of FMLP not only abrogated neutrophil transmigration to FMLP but also strongly decreased chemotaxis to C5a, IL-8, and Gro-alpha. Similarly, C5a inhibited neutrophil chemotaxis to IL-8 and Gro-alpha. IL-8 almost totally abrogated chemotaxis to Gro-alpha, but Gro-alpha only moderately inhibited chemotaxis to IL-8. Neither IL-8 nor Gro-alpha significantly inhibited transmigration to FMLP or C5a. Actin polymerization in eosinophils and neutrophils was desensitized by the same combinations of chemoattractants that desensitized chemotaxis. We conclude that eosinophils have at least three noninterfering receptor-signal transduction pathways for chemotaxis and actin polymerization. In contrast, the signaling pathways for FMLP, C5a, and IL-8/Gro-alpha in neutrophils are heterologously cross-desensitized, with a hierarchy of resistance to competing signals of FMLP > C5a > IL-8 > Gro-alpha, in agreement with previous results in neutrophils on the Ca2+-mobilizing response. These results may have important implications for the behavior of these cell types in inflammatory sites.

Neutrophil rolling, arrest, and transmigration across activated, surface-adherent platelets via sequential action of P-selectin and the beta 2-integrin CD11b/CD18.

Platelets bound to thrombogenic surfaces have been shown to support activation-dependent firm adhesion of neutrophils in flow following selectin-mediated tethering and rolling. The specific receptor(s) responsible for mediating adhesion-strengthening interactions between neutrophils and platelets has not previously been identified. Furthermore, the ability of adherent platelets to support the migration of bound neutrophils has not been tested. We studied neutrophil interactions with activated, surface-adherent platelets as a model for leukocyte binding in vascular shear flow and emigration at thrombogenic sites. Our results demonstrate that the beta 2-integrin Mac-1 (CD11b/CD18) is required for both firm attachment to and transmigration of neutrophils across surface-adherent platelets. In flow assays, neutrophils from patients with leukocyte adhesion deficiency-1 (LAD-I), which lack beta 2-integrin receptors, formed P-selectin-mediated rolling interactions, but were unable to develop firm adhesion to activated platelets, in contrast to healthy neutrophils, which developed firm adhesion within 5 to 30 seconds after initiation of rolling. Furthermore, the adhesion-strengthening interaction observed for healthy neutrophils could be specifically inhibited by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to Mac-1, but not to lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1; CD11a/CD18) or intercellular adhesion molecule-2 (ICAM-2; CD102). Further evidence for a beta 2-integrin-dependent neutrophil/platelet interaction is demonstrated by the complete inhibition of interleukin (IL)-8-induced neutrophil transmigration across platelets bound to fibronectin-coated polycarbonate filters by mAbs to Mac-1. Thus, Mac-1 is required for firm adhesion of neutrophils to activated, adherent platelets and may play an important role in promoting neutrophil accumulation on and migration across platelets deposited at sites of vascular injury.