Novel Classes of Neutrophil-Activating Peptides: Isolation and Their Physiological Significance

Abstract

Neutrophils are one of the leukocytes that involve destruction and removal of infected organisms and toxic debris [1]. Some chemokines and complement factors such as interleukin 8 and C5a are known to induce infiltration and activation of neutrophils [2]. Transmigration of neutrophils, however, often can be seen immediately after tissue injury occurs, and little is known how such migration and activation of neutrophils occur in tissue injury. Our working hypothesis is that necrotic or apoptotic cells in tissue injury sites directly produce substances that cause transmigration and activation of neutrophils to respond immediately in acute inflammation. In this study, we purified and identified two novel classes of neutrophil-activating peptides from porcine hearts and investigated the physiological significance of these peptides.