IL-4 increases human endothelial cell adhesiveness for T cells but not for neutrophils

The adhesion of leukocytes to vascular endothelium is the first step in their passage from the blood into inflammatory tissues. By modulating endothelial cell (EC) adhesiveness for leukocytes, cytokines may regulate leukocyte accumulation and hence the nature and progression of inflammatory responses. We have found that the T cell cytokine IL-4 increases the adhesion of T cells, but not neutrophils, to human umbilical vein EC monolayers. The increase in T cell adhesion induced by IL-4 was dose dependent (ED50 = 5 U/ml) and peaked around 33 U/ml. No increase in adhesion of neutrophils was observed at concentrations of IL-4 up to 1000 U/ml. The kinetic of the increase in T cell adhesion exhibited a steady rise peaking between 18 and 24 h before returning to basal levels by 72 h. The IL-4 specificity of the effect was confirmed by the ability of neutralizing anti-IL-4, but not anti-TNF, antibodies to abolish the effect. The increase in T cell-EC adhesion was due to an effect of IL-4 on EC inasmuch as preincubation of the T cells with IL-4 did not increase T cell binding. Furthermore, preincubation of A549 epithelial cell line monolayers with IL-4 caused no increase in T cell binding whereas A549 cells and EC showed a similarly enhanced adhesiveness for T cells after preincubation with IL-1, TNF, or IFN-gamma. EC treated with IL-4 retained their increased adhesiveness for T cells after light fixation, suggesting that IL-4 up-regulates binding by increasing the expression or accessibility of EC surface receptors for lymphocytes. Although antibodies to intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (CD54) and the beta-chain (CD18) of lymphocyte function-associated Ag-1 (CD11a/CD18) partially inhibited T cell adhesion to unstimulated EC, they did not affect the increase in adhesion due to IL-4 stimulation, indicating that the increased binding resulted from the generation of an alternative binding receptor(s) on the EC membrane. These findings suggest that IL-4 may play a role in the selective recruitment of T cells into sites of immune-mediated chronic inflammation.