Neutrophils Lacking Platelet-Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 Exhibit Loss of Directionality and Motility in CXCR2-Mediated Chemotaxis

Abstract

Time-lapsed videomicroscopy was used to study the migration of platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1-deficient (PECAM-1−/−) murine neutrophils undergoing chemotaxis in Zigmond chambers containing IL-8, KC, or fMLP gradients. PECAM-1−/− neutrophils failed to translocate up the IL-8, KC, and fMLP gradients. Significant reductions in cell motility and cell spreading were also observed in IL-8 or KC gradients. In wild-type neutrophils, PECAM-1 and F-actin were colocalized at the leading fronts of polarized cells toward the gradient. In contrast, in PECAM-1−/− neutrophils, although F-actin also localized to the leading front of migrating cells, F-actin polymerization was unstable, and cycling was remarkably increased compared with that of wild-type neutrophils. This may be due to the decreased cytokine-induced mobilization of the actin-binding protein, moesin, into the cytoskeleton of PECAM-1−/− neutrophils. PECAM-1−/− neutrophils also exhibited intracellularly dislocalized Src homology 2 domain containing phosphatase 1 (SHP-1) and had less IL-8-induced SHP-1 phosphatase activity. These results suggest that PECAM-1 regulates neutrophil chemotaxis by modulating cell motility and directionality, in part through its effects on SHP-1 localization and activation.