Differential effects of human granulocytes and lymphocytes on human fibroblasts in vitro.

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  • 1 October 1968
    • journal article
    • Vol. 3  (8) , 817-36
Abstract
Polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) were found to damage human fibroblast monolayers. Allogeneic and autochthonous PMN were equally efficient and monolayer destruction (plaque-formation) occurred within 24 hr, as a rule, in the absence of agglutinating substances such as phytohaemagglutinin. Living PMN were not necessary for plaque-formation, since cells heated to 56°C for 30 min or disintegrated by ultrasound were still competent to produce plaques. It is suggested that enzymes enclosed in cytoplasmic granules in the PMN are responsible for plaque-formation. Although the monolayer was destroyed, the target cells were not killed after treatment with PMN, but detached from the surface of the culture vessel into the medium and could be recultivated from the supernatant. Heparin, chondroitin sulphate and trypan blue suppressed plaque-formation by intact and disintegrated PMN, while a variety of metabolic inhibitors or X-rays had no effect.