Membrane-bound lactoferrin alters the surface properties of polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) aggregate and avidly attach to endothelium in response to chemotactic agents. This response may be related in part to the release of the specific granule constituent lactoferrin (LF). We found by using immunohistology and biochemical and biophysical techniques that LF binds to the membrane and alters the surface properties of the PMN. Upon exposure of PMN treated with 5 micrograms/ml cytochalasin B to 2 x 10(-7) M formyl-methionine-leucine-phenylalanine for 5 min, the PMN mobilized LF to their surface as observed by immunoperoxidase staining for LF. At added LF levels ranging from 4 to 15 micrograms/10(7) PMN there was a dose-dependent reduction in PMN surface charge reaching 4 mV, when the partitioning into the membrane of a charged amphipathic nitroxide spin label was measured by electron spin resonance spectroscopy, whereas transferrin was without effect. When 125I-FeLF was added to human PMN in increasing amounts and the results corrected for the residual amount of free LF contaminating the cells, the PMN were saturated with LF at concentrations between 100 and 200 nM in the medium. Human PMN bound 1.35 x 10(6) molecules per cell and the calculated value for the association constant for these receptors was 5.2 x 10(6) M-1. Additionally, 6 micrograms/ml LF served as an opsonin for rabbit MN to promote PMN uptake by rabbit macrophages, when assessed by electron microscopy, but lysozyme did not. These studies indicate that LF can bind to the surface of the PMN and reduce its surface charge. This correlates with enhanced "stickiness" leading to a variety of cell-cell interactions.