Transvascular and interstitial migration of neutrophils in rat mesentery

The consequential implications of the leukocyte-endothelial cell adhesion reaction, as well as the subsequent migratory activity of the leukocytes within the interstitium proper, are currently known only in general phenomenological terms. Our objective was to carry out a detailed quantitative analysis of transendothelial and interstitial migration.

We incorporated several new features, such as the video recording of time-lapse photography in conjunction with the time history of individual leukocytes under the influence of representative stimulators and inhibitors. The mesentery was suffused with the chemical activator N-formyl-met-leu-phe (fMLP, 5 x 10(-8) M) and histamine (10(-6) M) for periods up to 3 h. This leads to an attachment of neutrophils preferentially to the walls of small postcapillary venules followed by migration into the adjacent interstitium.

The time interval between the initial neutrophil adhesion to the luminal side of the venules and their first appearance on the abluminal side of the venule wall was about 25 min. The time interval for the actual physical migration across the endothelium was only about 1-2 min. There was an initial increase in the number of neutrophils migrating across the wall per unit time after the application of fMLP. However, this effect then gradually decreased over the course of 1 h. In the extravascular tissue, the neutrophils appeared to migrate along random pathways with an average trajectory away from the venular wall. When histamine (1 microM) was applied topically in conjunction with fMLP, the overall migratory flux across the venular wall increased, although the cells migrated comparatively short distances into the interstitium. After pretreatment with phalloidin (25 micrograms/kg), an actin cross-linking agent, neutrophil adhesion and migration in response to fMLP stimulation was reduced. The mast cell stimulator 48/80 (25 mg/ml) resulted in rapid degranulation, which was accompanied by an insignificant increase in neutrophil diapedesis. After fMLP stimulation there was reduced neutrophil emigration in the presence of mast cell inhibitors, such as lodoxamide (1 microgram/kg) and ketotifin (microgram/kg).

Our results demonstrate that both the endothelial cells and interstitial mast cells are involved in the rate of transvascular migration of leukocytes across postcapillary venules and into the interstitium.