Laboratory of Immunobiology, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21701.
Stimulated human monocytes release several proteins thought to play a role in inflammation, including interleukin 1, tumor necrosis factor, and plasminogen activator. We have purified another proinflammatory protein that is chemotactic for human neutrophils from conditioned medium of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated monocytes. After a series of steps that included anion-exchange chromatography, gel filtration, and HPLC on cation-exchange and reverse-phase columns, an apparently pure protein was obtained that migrated as a single 7-kDa band on NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gels under reducing or nonreducing conditions. The amino acid composition of this monocyte-derived neutrophil chemotactic factor was different from that of interleukin 1 and tumor necrosis factor. N-terminal amino acid sequence of the first 42 residues was determined. This portion of the molecule has up to 56% sequence similarity with several proteins that may be involved in host responses to infection or tissue injury. It is identical to a portion of a sequence deduced from an mRNA induced by staphylococcal enterotoxin treatment of human leukocytes. At the optimal concentration of 10 nM, 50% of neutrophils added to chemotaxis assay wells migrated toward the pure attractant. Potency and efficacy are comparable to that of fMet-Leu-Phe, which is often used as a reference. In contrast to many attractants, the protein was not chemotactic for human monocytes.