[Effect of rantes (regulated on activation, normal T expressed and secreted) on eosinophil adhesion to plasma coated...

Recently, adhesion molecules expressed on various inflammatory cells, especially on eosinophils are considered to play an important role in allergic inflammation such as bronchial asthma. RANTES (Regulated on activation normal T expressed and secreted) seems to be the most important chemokine which belongs to Platelet factor 4 (PF4) superfamily, since RANTES is revealed as a chemotactic factor for eosinophils as well as memory T cells or monocytes. In this study, we examined the effect of RANTES on eosinophil adhesion to plasma coated glass using eosinophilic cell line named EoL-1. RANTES augmented EoL-1 adherence to Plasma coated glass and EoL-1 adherence to plasma coated glass was inhibited by anti-VLA-4 antibody, anti-CR3 antibody. On the other hand, RANTES did not augment expression of adhesion molecules (VLA-4, CR3) on EoL-1. These findings indicate that RANTES intensify the adhesion of eosinophils without augmentation of their expression, and suggest that it induce qualitative, but not quantitative changes in their adherence. Taken together, our study suggest that RANTES up-regulates the inflammatory reaction through augmentative effect on adhesion of eosinophils in bronchial asthma.