Modulation of Fc and C3b receptor expression on guinea-pig macrophages by lymphokines

The decrease in Fc-receptor-positive cells that occurred during a 6 h incubation of resident and elicited guinea-pig macrophages was partly abrogated when lymphokines were present in the culture. When the same lymphokine preparations were tested on C3b receptor-expression they preferentially sustained the percentage of C3b rosettes formed by resident rather than elicited macrophages. This lymphokine-induced maintenance of Fc and C3b rosettes by cultured macrophages may have been due to an inhibition of receptor release or an increase in receptor synthesis. Supernatants from cultured macrophages contain shed Fc and C3b receptors which inhibit rosette formation by other macrophages. From the demonstration that culture supernatants from both lymphokine-treated and untreated macrophages significantly inhibited Fc and C3b rosette formation by freshly obtained macrophages it seems that the shedding of Fc and C3b receptors is not modified by lymphokines. The maintenance of Fc and C3b rosettes by lymphokines was inhibited by treatment of the macrophages with cycloheximide, suggesting that the lymphokine effect was due to an increase in synthesis de novo of the Fc and C3b receptors. The lymphokine-inducing antigens, BGG and PPD, and control lymphokine preparations were devoid of receptor modifying activity. The reduction in the percentage of Fc rosettes after 6 h culture appears to be due to a loss of Fc receptors for IgG1. Although lymphokines partly inhibited this effect they could not prevent the loss of these receptors following 24 h culture, unlike their action in augmenting the expression of Fc receptors for IgG2. These findings suggest that a selective enhancement of Fc receptor synthesis by lymphokines may modify the functional activities of macrophages.