Chemotactic migration triggers IL-8 generation in neutrophilic leukocytes

Neutrophils recovered from inflammatory exudates possess increased levels of IL-8, but exposure of neutrophils to chemoattractants results in only a modest stimulation of IL-8 generation. This study was undertaken to explore the hypothesis that IL-8 generation in these cells is dependent upon the process of migration. Neutrophils synthesized up to 30 times as much IL-8 during migration in response to a gradient of diverse chemoattractants than they did when stimulated directly by the attractants in the absence of a gradient. This IL-8 response was dependent on migration since it was not observed in cells exposed to concentration gradients of chemoattractants under conditions that prevented cell movement. While actinomycin-D (1 microg/ml) had little influence on the generation of IL-8 during chemotaxis, the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide (10 microg/ml) markedly blunted the accumulation of cell-associated IL-8, suggesting that new protein synthesis from preexisting mRNA was responsible for the effect. Consistent with this interpretation, migrating cells incorporated over 10 times as much [3H]leucine into IL-8 as did nonmotile neutrophils exposed to chemoattractants. A substantial portion of the IL-8 generated during chemotaxis was released upon subsequent metabolic stimulation. Thus, the IL-8 synthesized during chemotaxis is uniquely positioned to exert a regulatory influence on inflammatory processes governed by neutrophilic leukocytes responding to inflammatory and infectious stimuli.