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Chemotaxis of Basophils by Lymphocyte-Dependent and Lymphocyte-Independent Mechanisms¹

From the Departments of Pathology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06032 and the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

Abstract

Guinea pig basophils obtained from blood or bone marrow have been studied for their chemotactic responsiveness. Chemotactic factors for basophils include a substance (lymphokine) present in culture fluids from antigen-stimulated lymphocytes, a material generated in zymosan-activated guinea pig serum, a C5 cleavage factor, and a bacterial factor. When compared with homologous neutrophils and monocytes, basophils respond most rapidly to a chemotactic stimulus. The lymphokine basophil chemotactic factor is physicochemically similar to the previously described monocyte chemotactic factor but appears to be distinct from it as well as MIF and neutrophil chemotactic factor present in the same fluids. Part of the evidence for this is the ability to detect basophil chemotactic factor in the absence of other lymphokine activities under appropriate experimental conditions. More evidence, specifically relating to the monocyte factor, is that monocytes can adsorb basophil chemotactic activity but not vice versa. This latter observation may have implications for the mechanism whereby the accumulation of basophils is controlled and limited in vivo. In addition, it was noted that specific antigen could also suppress basophil chemotaxis. Although the mechanism of this phenomenon is unclear, it could serve as a second means by which basophil accumulation may be controlled in the intact animal. Taken together, these observations provide further definition of the chemotactic behavior of basophils in general, and underscore some of the ways in which lymphocytes can influence basophils through lymphokine-dependent mechanisms.

Footnotes

¹ This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants AI-09651, AI-11526, AI-12477, AI-12225, and AI-09529.

² Please address correspondence to: Peter A. Ward, M.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Pathology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06032.