Interleukin-8 is chemotactic for vascular smooth muscle cells

The chemotactic activity of interleukin-8 for human aortic smooth muscle cells was investigated in Transwell cell culture chamber using a polycarbonate membrane with pores of 8 microns. Interleukin-8 stimulated the smooth muscle cell migration time and dose dependently in the range between 10(-11) and 10(-8) M. At 10 nM of interleukin-8, the number of migrated smooth muscle cells increased by 40-fold over the basal level, and this stimulation was almost completely abolished by anti-interleukin-8 antibody. Checkerboard analysis showed that the response of smooth muscle cell to interleukin-8 was chemotactic. These results suggest that interleukin-8 may play a role in the pathogenesis of arterial intimal thickening and atherosclerosis.