Monocyte tethering by P-selectin regulates monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and tumor necrosis factor-α secretion: Signal integration and NF-κB translocation

Abstract

Adhesion molecules that tether circulating leukocytes to endothelial cells may also transduce or modulate outside-in signals for cellular activation, providing an initial regulatory point in the inflammatory response. Adhesion of human monocytes to P-selectin, the most rapidly expressed endothelial tethering factor, increased the secretion of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) by the leukocytes when they were stimulated with platelet-activating factor. Increased cytokine secretion was specifically inhibited by G1, an anti-P-selectin mAb that prevents P-selectin from binding to its ligand (P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1) on myeloid cells. Moreover, tethering by P-selectin specifically enhanced nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), a transcription factor required for expression of MCP-1, TNF-α, and other immediate-early genes. These results demonstrate that P-selectin, through its ligands on monocytes, may locally regulate cytokine secretion in inflamed tissues.