Neutrophil chemotactic factors secreted fromToxoplasma gondii

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Abstract
Neutrophil chemotactic activity was detected in the fluid ofToxoplasma gondiicultures by the agarose plate and the Boyden chamber methods.Toxoplasmaculture fluid was obtained by incubating the tachyzoites at 37 °C in a 5% CO2atmosphere for 6 h in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's minimum essential medium containing 10% heat-inactivated foetal calf serum. Soluble extracts from tachyzoites had negligible activity, indicating that the chemotactic factors were metabolites secreted from tachyzoites. The chemotactic activity inToxoplasmaculture fluid depended on the number of tachyzoites and the period of incubation. The substances responsible for neutrophil chemotaxis were two heat-labile peptides with estimatedMr4·5 and 14 kDa with N-terminal groups free.