Interleukin-2-induced chemotaxis of human T-lymphocytes.
Interleukin-2 (IL-2), a growth factor for T-lymphocytes, has been postulated to cause the accumulation of T-lymphocytes at sites of inflammation by inducing proliferation of these cells. We hypothesized that IL-2 might also serve to attract T-lymphocytes to inflammatory sites. To test this hypothesis, human T-lymphocytes were purified from the peripheral blood of normal volunteers by rosetting with neuraminidase-treated sheep red blood cells and tested for chemotactic activity by using a blind-well chamber technique. Purified IL-2 caused a greater than 20-fold attraction of T-lymphocytes compared with medium alone (P less than 0.001). This attraction was shown to be chemotactic rather than chemokinetic by checkerboard analysis. The T-lymphocyte chemotaxis could be completely inhibited by adsorption of the IL-2 with an IL-2-dependent cell line, and could be neutralized by monoclonal anti-IL-2 antibody. Further specificity of IL-2-directed chemotaxis was demonstrated by using species-specific IL-2. Mouse IL-2 was ineffective at promoting human T-lymphocyte chemotaxis. These data suggest that IL-2 may be responsible for the localized accumulation of T-lymphocytes both by causing attraction of these cells and by modulating their proliferation.
D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002634:Chemotaxis, Leukocyte; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D007376:Interleukin-2