The strength of integrin binding between neutrophils and endothelial cells

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Quantitative In vitro Assay to Measure Neutrophil Adhesion to Activated Primary Human Microvascular Endothelial Cells under Static Conditions
11:22

Quantitative In vitro Assay to Measure Neutrophil Adhesion to Activated Primary Human Microvascular Endothelial Cells under Static Conditions

Published on: August 23, 2013

V Labrador1, P Riha, S Muller

  • 1Cell and Tissue Mechanics and Engineering, LEMTA UMR-CNRS 7563, Faculty of Medicine, 54505 Vandoeuvre les Nancy, France.

European Biophysics Journal : EBJ
|July 10, 2003
PubMed

The firm adhesion of activated polymorphonuclear neutrophils to endothelial cells in blood vessels is achieved through binding of the integrin intercellular adhesion molecule. To contribute to the better understanding of this adhesion step, our investigation is aimed at the relationship between integrin expression and the strength of neutrophil binding to endothelial cells. Flow cytometry and 3D scanning microscopy are used to study integrin expression and distribution, respectively. It is found that CD11b/CD18 integrin expression is localized in clusters distributed irregularly over the neutrophil surface. After cell activation, the cluster distribution polarizes, increasing the local CD11b/CD18 density concurrently with nearly doubled integrin expression. The neutrophil adhesion efficiency is measured in a flow chamber coated successively by various substrates, including endothelial cells in an activated state. Analysis of the flow dependence of the number of attached cells reveals the prevailing number of neutrophils with stronger binding to the endothelium when both cells are in the activated state in comparison with non-activated cells.

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