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Regular Articles |
, MCP-1, IP-10, and Mig Are Sequentially and Differentially Expressed During Phase-Specific Infiltration of Leukocyte Subsets in Human Wound Healing
From the Departments of Dermatology*
and
Surgery,
University of Würzburg Medical
School, Würzburg, Germany
| Abstract |
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are maximally
expressed in the superficial wound bed and are spatially and temporally
associated with neutrophil infiltration. IL-8 and growth-related
oncogene
profiles also correlate with keratinocyte migration and
subsequently subside after wound closure at day 4. Macrophage
infiltration reaches the highest levels at day 2 and is paralleled by
monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 mRNA expression in both the basal
layer of the proliferative epidermis at the wound margins and
mononuclear cells in the wound area. Other monocyte-attracting
chemokines such as monocyte chemoattractant protein-3,
macrophage inflammatory protein-1
and -1ß,
RANTES, and I309 are undetectable. At day 4,
perivascular focal lymphocyte accumulation correlates with strong focal
expression of the C-X-C chemokines Mig and IP-10. Our results suggest
that a dynamic set of chemokines contributes to the spatially and
temporally different infiltration of leukocyte subsets and thus
integrates the inflammatory and reparative processes during wound
repair.
| Introduction |
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Consequently, analyzing the mechanisms responsible for the
phase-specific and spatially differential recruitment of leukocyte
subsets is a prerequisite for understanding both normal and
pathological (ie, delayed or hypertrophic) wound repair. Besides
adhesion molecules,8,9
the targeting processes of
extravasation and tissue homing depend on chemoattractants such as
chemokines.10
By virtue of their target-cell
specificity, chemokines selectively mediate the regionally specific
recruitment of neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes. C-X-C
chemokines such as IL-8,11-13
growth-related
oncogene
(GRO
),14,15
and epithelial
derived neutrophil attractant-78 amino acids
(ENA-78)16
containing the glutamin
acid-leucine-arginine motif17
preferentially attract neutrophils and possibly
lymphocytes.18,19
The C-X-C chemokines, such as
monokine induced by interferon-
(Mig)20-22
and interferon-
-inducible protein-10
(IP-10),23
which lack the glutamin
acid-leucine-arginine motif, selectively attract
lymphocytes.24-26
The C-C chemokines are the
second subfamily of chemokines which include monocyte chemoattractant
protein-1 (MCP-1),27,28
macrophage inflammatory
protein-1
and ß (MIP-1
and
ß),29,30
I30931
and the
"regulated on activation normal T cells expressed and
secreted" (RANTES).32
Chemokines from this
family show a partly overlapping specificity for macrophages,
lymphocytes,33,34
and non-neutrophil
granulocytes.35
So far, the role of individual chemokines during wound healing has been
studied mainly in rodent models.36-38
DiPietro
and colleagues found maximum levels of JE mRNA, the murine homologue of
MCP-1, at 1224 hours after wounding, followed by a peak of macrophage
infiltration 12 days later.38
More recently,
DiPietro also detected MIP-1
as a critical mediator of monocyte
recruitment in murine wound repair.36
However, it
is not clear whether human and murine chemokine homologues exhibit
similar functions in vivo, leaving open the question whether
their physiological roles during inflammatory reactions are comparable.
In view of these discrepancies and due to the lack of available
chemokine reagents for animal models with a comparable morphology to
human skin (eg, pigs, rabbits, or guinea pigs), we decided to focus on
the role chemokines play in wound healing of adult human skin.
Recently, expression of GRO
and its receptor were studied in human
wounds at days 212 after accidental burn
injuries.39
The authors observed immunoreactivity
to GRO
in exudates and granulation tissue, which was associated with
inflammatory infiltrates from days 312 after injury. Moreover,
expression of the CXC-receptor 2 (CXCR2), previously designated as the
IL-8 receptor B, was detected early after wounding in undifferentiated
keratinocytes.39
However, with the exception of
GRO and CXCR2 immunoreactivity in burn wounds, little is known about
the temporal and spatial appearance of chemokines and their influences
on re-epithelialization and angiogenesis during normal human wound
healing. In this study, we investigated the role of neutrophil-,
macrophage- and lymphocyte-specific chemokines during human wound
healing in a standardized manner, using incisional skin wounds
of constant size, constant localization, and defined time intervals in
adult volunteers.
As several studies have demonstrated, in vivo data on chemokine mRNA expression are highly representative of the presence of their respective target cells.38,40-44 In contrast, chemokine labeling by immunohistochemical measures is less reliable, because the attachment of immunoreactive epitopes to the extracellular matrix leads to a high background signal. This problem is of particular relevance in early wound healing lesions with the strong deposition of fibrin and fibrinogen. For this reason we used in situ hybridization to identify and localize chemokine mRNA expression and immunohistochemistry to detect the distribution of leukocyte subsets.
We demonstrate in this study that during normal healing of adult skin wounds, distinct repertoires of chemokines are expressed. These repertoires correlate spatially and temporally with the phase-specific recruitment and trafficking of neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes.
| Materials and Methods |
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After obtaining informed consent from each of 14 healthy adult volunteers of Caucasian origin, incisions (n = 47) 5 mm deep and 5 mm long were made on the ulnar forearm. The volunteers were 8 women and 6 men ranging in age from 2558 years (mean, 39.9 years). Pending collection of biopsy specimens after various time periods, wounds were covered with sterile dressing. The study was approved by the Ethics Commission at the University of Würzburg and performed according to the Declarations of Helsinki and Tokyo.
Biopsy Specimens
At defined time intervals after wounding (1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 14, and 21 days), 5-mm punch biopsies were obtained under local anesthesia. Biopsy specimens from healthy volunteers (n = 6) of nonwounded skin were used as controls. The tissue samples were placed in optimal cutting temperature compound (Tissue-Tek, Miles Scientific, Naperville, IL) immediately after excision, frozen, and stored at -80°C. Cryostat sections measuring 5 µm were prepared on gelatine-coated slides (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) for immunohistology and on polyL-lysin-coated slides (Sigma, Deisenhofen, Germany) for in situ hybridization, respectively. After air-drying, sections were fixed in acetone (10 minutes at 4°C) for immunohistochemistry or in 4% paraformaldehyde/phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 20 minutes at room temperature (RT) for in situ hybridization.
Antibodies and Antisera
For immunohistological staining the following mouse mAbs were used
at the indicated dilutions: anti-CD3 (1:100; Becton Dickinson,
Sunnyvale, CA), reacting with the T cell receptor-associated CD3
antigen; anti-CD68 (1:1000; Dako, Hamburg, Germany), reacting with
monocytes and macrophages; anti-neutrophil elastase (1:200; Dako),
specific for neutrophils; MiB-1 (1:200; Dianova, Hamburg, Germany),
detecting the Ki-67 proliferation antigen, EN4 (1:500; Sera Lab,
Crawley Down, UK) specific for endothelial cells, anti-GRO
(1:50;
R+D Systems, Minneapolis, MN), anti-MCP-1 (1:50; R+D Systems),
anti-MIP-1
(1:20; Promega, Madison, WI), and anti-RANTES (1:50; R+D
Systems).
The following antisera were used: anti-Mig (rabbit antiserum, 1:200), raised against denatured human Mig (kindly provided by J. M. Farber, Laboratory for Clinical Investigation, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD), and anti-IP-10 (goat antiserum, 1:500), raised against denatured human IP-10 (R+D Systems).
Biotin-conjugated sheep anti-mouse immunoglobulin (1:200; Amersham, Braunschweig, Germany), sheep anti-rabbit immunoglobulin (1:200; Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, PA) and sheep anti-goat immunoglobulin (1:200; Jackson ImmunoResearch) were used as the secondary antibody.
Immunohistology
For immunohistochemical staining a three-step streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase procedure was used.40 First, slides were washed in 0.1% Tween 20 (Merck)/PBS (Sigma) and the nonspecific binding sites were blocked with 20% sheep serum (Dianova)/0.1% BSA (Merck)/PBS for 20 minutes at RT. Sections were then incubated with the primary antibody in 0.1% BSA/PBS at 4°C overnight. After intense washing in 0.1% Tween 20, the slides were incubated with the biotinylated sheep anti-mouse immunoglobulin as the secondary antibody for 1 hour at RT and, after further washing, were treated with streptABC-peroxidase (Dako) for 1 hour at RT. Labeling was visualized with 0.2 mg/ml 0.5% 3-amino-9-ethyl-carbazole (AEC) (Sigma) in N,N-dimethylformamide (Merck) and 0.005% H2O2 in acetate buffer (50 mmol/L, pH 5.0) at RT. Slides were finally counterstained with Papanicolaou's solution 1b (Merck). For control purposes, the first mAb was omitted and replaced by an isotype-matched antibody to control for nonspecificity.
| In Situ Hybridization |
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The cDNA probes used for in situ hybridization were
kindly provided by T. Yoshimura (National Cancer Institute, Frederick,
MD; MCP-1), C. Müller (University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;
MCP-3 and ENA-78), Genetics Institute (Cambridge, MA; MIP-1
), T.
Schall (DNAX, Palo Alto, CA; RANTES, MIP-1ß), A. Anisowicz (Dana
Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA; GRO
), C. Weissmann (University
of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; IL-8), R. Kulke (University
of Kiel, Kiel, Germany; IP-10), J. Farber (National Cancer Institute,
Bethesda, MD; Mig), and M. Krangel (Duke University Medical Center,
Durham, NC; I309). Subcloning of specific DNA fragments was performed
in vectors containing SP6/T7 (pGem 02, Promega, Madison, WI) or T3/T7
promoters (Bluescript, Stratagene, La Jolla, CA) according to standard
protocols.45
In vitro transcription of
sense and antisense probes was performed as previously
described.40
Briefly, plasmid DNA was linearized
with appropriate restriction enzymes. Then
35S-labeled sense and antisense probes were
obtained by in vitro transcription using SP6, T3, or T7
polymerases (Boehringer Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany) together with ATP,
GTP, CTP (Boehringer) and [35S]uridine
triphosphate (Amersham) as substrates. Original linearized template
cDNA was eliminated with deoxyribonuclease (Pharmacia, Uppsala, Sweden)
and protein was removed by sequential phenol extraction steps. Then,
alkaline hydrolysis of the 35S-labeled RNA probes
was performed for 3050 minutes at 60°C in a carbonate buffer (pH
10.2) according to the formula: time (minutes) =
(L0 - Lf)/0.11
x L0 x Lf
(L0 = initial length in kb pairs,
Lf = final length in kb
pairs).46
After several ethanol precipitation
steps, the radioactive riboprobe was adjusted to the specific activity
of 1 x 106
cpm/µl in 0.01 mol/L Tris-HCl
(pH 7.5), supplemented with 1 mmol/L EDTA.
Hybridization Procedure
In situ hybridization was done as previously described.40 Paraformaldehyde-fixed cryostat sections were treated with proteinase K (Boehringer,) (1 µg/ml) for 30 minutes at 37°C, refixed in 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS (30 minutes, RT), acetylated with acetic anhydride in 0.1 mol/l triethanolamine (pH 8.0, 10 minutes), dehydrated in graded concentrations of alcohol, and air-dried. Afterwards, sections were overlaid with 20 µl of hybridization solution containing 50% formamide, 300 mmol/L NaCl, 20 mmol/L Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 5 mmol/L EDTA, 1 x Denhardt's solution, 10% dextran sulfate, 100 mmol/L DTT, and 2 x 105 cpm heat-denatured radioactive sense or antisense probes per µl. The slides were mounted with coverslips, sealed, and hybridized at 46°C for 1216 hours. Antisense and sense (negative control) probes were hybridized with at least two sections of the same biopsy. After hybridization, nonhybridized probes were removed by several high-stringency washing procedures with 50% formamide solution containing 2 x SSC buffer (Sigma) and 5 mmol/L EDTA at 5457°C. To minimize the background signal, noncomplementary unhybridized single-stranded probe RNA was digested with RNase A (20 µg/ml) and RNase T1 (1 U/µl, Boehringer) for 30 minutes at 37°C. For autoradiography, slides were dipped in NTB-2 Kodak solution (1:2 in 800 mmol/L ammonium acetate), air-dried, and exposed for 15 weeks at 4°C. Slides were then counterstained with Papanicolaou's solution 1b.
As control tissues for chemokine expression, we used lesions of
psoriasis (GRO
, IL-8, IP-10, Mig, and MCP-1), leishmaniasis, leprosy
(MIP-1
and MIP-1ß), and lichen planus (RANTES).
Quantitation of Leukocyte Subsets, mRNA-Expressing Cells, and Vessel Growth
A Zeiss Axiophot microscope equipped with dark-field illumination (Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany) was used for evaluation and documentation. Positive cells were counted with an ocular square grid (Carl Zeiss) in one half of the symmetrical wound bed (magnifications, x250 and x400) and related to the total number of cells in the area. We examined 3 to 14 individual wounds for each time point. The average percentage of mRNA-expressing or -stained cells was determined and expressed as mean ± SEM. For evaluation of microvascular endothelium development, we counted the number of vessels in 23 random counting fields (magnification, x200) within the wound bed and calculated the average number of vessels per counting field.
| Results |
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In the first series of experiments, biopsies from incisional adult
skin wounds 5 mm long and 5 mm deep taken at day 0, 1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 14,
and 21 were evaluated for their histological features and time of wound
closure, as determined by complete re-epithelialization of the wound
gap with keratinocytes. In five of eleven individuals, wound closure
was already completed after 48 hours (day 2), and in six patients
closure took place between days 2 and 4. No obvious differences in
wound healing between adult volunteers aged 2030
(n = 5) and those aged 4060
(n = 4) were seen. After day 4, a hypertrophic
neo-epidermis developed over the previously denuded wound surface.
Immunostaining with anti-leukocyte mAb for CD45+
cells showed maximum leukocyte accumulation within the first 24 hours
and a constant level until day 4. Afterwards, the number of
CD45+ cells slowly and constantly decline in the
next 3 weeks (data not shown). However, the total number of cells after
a dramatic increase between day 0 and day 1 remained rather constant
(Figure 1)
, indicating that the slow
decline of inflammatory cells after day 4 (wound closure in all
lesions) is accompanied by the proliferation of resident cells as
fibroblasts and endothelial cells. Immunohistological labeling with
leukocyte subtype-specific mAbs revealed a strong dominance of
NE+ neutrophils during the first days, reaching a
maximum level at day 1 (44 ± 3% of total cells; mean ±
SEM) (Figure 1)
. The neutrophils concentrated in a rim of densely
packed cells contained within the superficial part of the wound defect
(Figure 2E)
, but their relative
percentage decreased rapidly on wound closure (after days 24). In
contrast to neutrophils, CD68+ macrophages
reached their maximum level at day 2 (30 ± 8%) (Figure 1)
. The
macrophages were distributed within and near the wounded area with
preferential accumulation around dermal vessels. After day 2, the
number of macrophages slowly declined. Lymphocytes were present at
relatively constant levels (1218%) (Figure 1)
and, like macrophages,
accumulated preferentially around superficial dermal vessels. The
local appearance of lymphocytes was slightly delayed compared to
neutrophils and macrophages. After day 14, however, lymphocytes
constituted the major leukocyte subpopulation in the wound (Figure 1)
.
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Staining with mAb MiB-1 showed that proliferation of keratinocytes was restricted to the epidermal compartment of the wound edge, whereas keratinocytes migrating from the margin into the wound bed were nonproliferating (data not shown). Only at later time points (days 7 and 10) was the proliferation of basal keratinocytes in the newly constituted acanthotic epidermis observed. This demonstrates that the mechanism of re-epithelialization is due to migration of keratinocytes that originate from undamaged epidermis surrounding the wound border. Staining of vessels by endothelial cell-specific mAb EN4 revealed an initial increase in density of vessels in the wound area. One day after wounding, an average number of 13.5 ± 2.3 (mean ± SEM) vessels per field was observed; this number nearly doubled by day 4 (21 ± 5). After reaching maximum vessel density at day 4, the number of vessels remained quite constant (19.5 ± 2.8 at day 7 and 19.1 ± 4.8 at day 10).
Expression of IL-8 and GRO
mRNA during Healing of
Deliberate Skin Wounds Is Temporally and Spatially Correlated with the
Pattern of Neutrophil Infiltration
To better understand mechanisms of rapid neutrophil recruitment in
cutaneous wounds, we analyzed the expression and microanatomical
location of the neutrophil-attracting chemokines IL-8, GRO
and
ENA-78. Use of the radioactive IL-8 antisense (but not sense) probes
demonstrates massive cell-associated hybridization signals in the
inflammatory exudate of the superficial wound bed (Figure 2, A and B)
.
The density of IL-8 mRNA+ cells abruptly
decreased toward the nonnecrotic underlying dermis, and IL-8 mRNA
expression was completely absent in the adjacent epidermis during all
phases of wound healing. At day 1, nearly 20% of total dermal cells
expressed message for IL-8 (Figure 3)
.
The dense rim of expressing cells spatially correlated with the dense
neutrophil accumulation, as revealed by immunohistological staining on
serial sections (Figure 2, A, B, and E)
. After day 1, the
signal for IL-8 message declined such that after day 4 (complete
re-epithelialization in all patients evaluated), IL-8 message was below
detectable levels (Figure 3)
. Surprisingly, the neutrophils and IL-8
signals persisted in the crust material above the newly built
epidermis, whereas the corresponding region below the neoepidermis had
no detectable neutrophils and IL-8 message. IL-8 message detected above
the neoepidermis was not included in this evaluation, since IL-8 in the
crust is unlikely to influence wound cell activation in the dermis.
Expression of GRO
mRNA colocalized with IL-8 mRNA expression in the
superficial wound (Figure 2, C and D)
and was maximal after day 1
(Figure 3)
. However, in the superficial rim GRO
expression was
significantly lower than IL-8 expression. In contrast to IL-8,
mononuclear cells in the wound area below the surface, particularly
those with perivascular localization, expressed strong message for
GRO
(Figure 2, C and D
, arrows). GRO
expression was still
detectable at day 10 in the dermal compartment, albeit at low levels
(Figure 3)
. Because the GRO
and IL-8 expression profiles overlapped
only partially in the superficial wound region, nonspecific
cross-hybridization of these two highly homologous C-X-C chemokines can
be excluded. When serial sections were hybridized with ENA-78 antisense
probes, specific signals could not be detected between day 1 and day
21, suggesting that ENA-78 is not relevant for neutrophil recruitment
in our wound healing model (data not shown). In summary, expression of
both IL-8 and GRO
mRNA showed a strong correlation with the
neutrophil infiltration within the first 4 days after wounding,
suggesting that both C-X-C chemokines cooperatively regulate neutrophil
chemotaxis during normal healing of incisional skin wounds.
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Wound macrophages exhibit both immunological and growth-promoting
functions and thus comprise an essential cell population in cutaneous
wounds. To discover which selected chemokines regulate macrophage
accumulation during wound healing, we analyzed an extensive set of
C-C chemokines with monocyte/macrophage attractant properties.
The expression profiles of MCP-1, MCP-3, MIP1
, MIP-1ß, I309, and
RANTES were studied at days 0, 1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 14, and 21 after
incision and consecutive healing by in situ hybridization
using the corresponding sense and antisense probes. Expression levels
of MCP-3, MIP-1ß, I309, and RANTES were either very low or
undetectable between day 0 and day 21 (data not shown). MIP-1
message was seen occasionally in the dermal compartment but its
expression was marginal compared to the extensive recruitment of
mononuclear cells in the wound (data not shown). In contrast to these
C-C chemokines, MCP-1 mRNA expression was very extensive (Figure 4, A, B, and D
F) and surprisingly
reached a maximum level at day 1, when nearly 20% of total cells
expressed specific transcripts (Figure 5)
. The most noteworthy finding was the
differential expression of MCP-1 in the dermal and epidermal
compartment (Figure 4, DF)
. Cell-associated MCP-1-specific signals
were detected in the whole inflammatory focus of the wound area,
especially around blood vessels. In situ
hybridization does not allow the simultaneous demonstration of mRNA-
and leukocyte-specific surface protein expression but, according to the
distribution pattern and counterstaining, MCP-1 message is most likely
expressed by mononuclear cells (Figure 4, A, B, and D
-F). Besides
expression of MCP-1 by mononuclear cells in the dermis, we detected in
every in situ hybridization focally abundant silver grain
precipitates in the basal epidermal layer adjacent to the wound edge
from day 2 to day 7. Interestingly, hybridization signals did not occur
along the full length of the basal layer but were restricted to the
part of vigorous basal proliferation as revealed by staining of serial
sections with MiB-1 mAb (data not shown). After day 10, moderate MCP-1
mRNA expression was also detected in the basal layer of the newly built
acanthotic neoepidermis (Figure 4, D
-F). The strong basal expression of
MCP-1 correlated spatially with a strong dermal accumulation of
macrophages. There was also a strong correlation between the
percentages of MCP-1-expressing cells and CD68+
macrophages at all time points (Figure 5)
. This strongly suggests that
MCP-1, which is synthesized by dermal mononuclear cells and basal
keratinocytes at the wound edge, is a dominant monocyte chemoattractant
during wound healing, for none of the other transcripts tested (MCP-3,
MIP-1
and ß, I309, or RANTES) could be detected.
|
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Recent data suggest that lymphocytes are not only immunological
effector cells but also capable of producing growth factors, and thus
may contribute to regeneration after tissue
injuries.6,7
In our wound healing model,
lymphocytes were present in relatively high numbers and constituted the
greatest leukocyte subgroup at day 14 after wounding (Figure 1)
.
Currently, C-X-C chemokines18,19,24,47
and C-C
chemokines33
are both considered to be lymphocyte
attractants at least in vitro. As demonstrated above, MCP-3,
MIP-1
and ß, I309, and RANTES are expressed at low levels and so
are not likely to be relevant for monocyte or lymphocyte trafficking.
Therefore, we concentrated our study on the analysis of MCP-1, IL-8,
GRO
, and additional chemokines with lymphocyte-attractant
properties, namely IP-10 and Mig. In the initial period of healing (day
14), lymphocytes were found mainly at the same sites as macrophages
and MCP-1 mRNA expression. In contrast, the pattern of IL-8 mRNA
expression was completely disparate, whereas GRO
message was
detected in singly distributed cells within foci of macrophage and
lymphocyte accumulation. After day 4, hybridization of serial sections
with IP-10 or Mig antisense (but not sense) probes as well as
immunostaining for CD3 expression revealed a strong spatial
correlation. In every instance we discovered foci with expression of
IP-10 and Mig mRNA, the latter always at significantly higher levels
(Figure 6, A and B)
, at clusters of
lymphocytes (Figure 6C)
. At day 10, Mig mRNA expression reached a
maximum level (7.3 ± 3.2% of total cells) which afterwards
slowly declined. At day 21, 5 ± 4.7% of total cells were still
Mig mRNA+. A similar coincidence between
lymphocyte accumulation and Mig/IP-10 mRNA expression could not be
detected for other chemokines, indicating that at a later stage of
wound healing, these two chemokines are important for the persistence
of lymphocyte recruitment. According to the expression pattern of IP-10
and Mig, macrophages are most likely to be the producers of both
lymphoattractant chemokines. In summary, in both the time course
experiments and the location of chemokine expression, we observed the
presence of lymphocytes and MCP-1 expression in the early phase and
IP-10/Mig expression in the later phase of wound healing.
|
Detection of soluble mediators in situ, in
particular chemokines with binding to extracellular matrix components,
is considered unreliable and troublesome. In the first days,
immunohistochemical labeling using chemokine-specific mAbs and
antiserum was hampered by a high background staining, possibly due to
fibrin/fibrinogen. At day 4 and afterwards, the strong expression of
MCP-1 mRNA (Figure 7A)
was paralleled by
MCP-1 immunoreactivity (Figure 7B)
, indicating translation of MCP-1
message into protein. Similar spatial and temporal correlation between
mRNA expression patterns and chemokine immunoreactivity could be
detected only for Mig and to a lesser extend IP-10 whereas the other
chemokines with low mRNA expression levels (MIP-1
, RANTES) were not
traceable by immunohistochemistry in situ (data not shown).
In summary, except the early nonspecific immunoreactivity when staining
for GRO
and IL-8 at day 1 to 4, strong expression of MCP-1 and
Mig/IP-10 mRNA were paralleled by a corresponding immunoreactivity
indicating, that detected chemokine mRNA expression is translated to
immunoreactive protein.
|
Expression
Data are accumulating that IL-8 and GRO
exhibit angiogenic
properties in vivo48,49
that are inhibited
by IP-10 and Mig.49
Because these angiogenic and
angiostatic chemokines are highly expressed in our wound healing model,
we compared chemokine expression levels with the numbers of
immunohistochemically stained vessels counted in randomly selected
regions of the wound. The density of vessels initially increased and
remained constant after day 4. The expression levels of IL-8 and GRO
clearly correlated with a delayed increase in vascularization, whereas
expression levels of Mig and IP-10 did not reveal a corresponding
correlation. In contrast to the increasing number of
Mig/IP-10+ cells after day 4, vessel density
remained constant.
| Discussion |
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mRNA expression, whereas
the migration of macrophages is observed after strong expression of
MCP-1 from day 2 onward. Lymphocyte migration is initially paralleled
by MCP-1 expression and then after 4 days by Mig and IP-10 expression.
The data are summarized in a diagram (Figure 8)
|
, they cannot explain the very
selective band-like arrangement of neutrophils. The simultaneous but
differential expression of IL-8 and GRO
favors the concept that both
C-X-C chemokines are in part involved in different steps of neutrophil
recruitment via two different receptors, CXCR1 and CXCR2, respectively.
This has been suggested for neutrophil trafficking from skin vessels to
the upper epidermis in psoriasis lesions42
and
more recently for neutrophil accumulation in occluded blood
vessels.52
The vessel-associated expression of
GRO
in the absence of detectable IL-8 message may facilitate
neutrophil diapedesis. The cooperative expression of GRO
and IL-8 in
the superficial wound bed supports further neutrophil migration to the
wound surface along an ascending gradient. Thus, initial
desensitization of the CXCR2 through GRO
may be overcome through
stimulation of neutrophils via the IL-8-specific
CXCR1.53
In addition to its neutrophil
chemoattractant properties, IL-8 also directly stimulates keratinocyte
migration and proliferation, as recently demonstrated by Michel et al
and Tuschil et al.54,55
In our wound healing
model, IL-8 is expressed exactly along the denuded wound surface where
keratinocytes migrate from the free edge of the adjacent epidermis.
With complete wound closure, IL-8 expression subsides. The question of
how IL-8 influences the phenotypic alterations of those keratinocytes
which undergo metamorphosis and horizontal locomotion has so far not
been investigated. Notably, the phenotype of migrating wound epidermal
cell is similar to that observed in psoriatic skin. Expression of the
CXCR2, recently reported in the proliferative population of
keratinocytes of the wound edge,39
and the
proximity of high IL-8 levels and (to a lesser extent) GRO
may also
stimulate keratinocyte growth. Our data are in accordance with the data
from Nanney et al39
on burn wounds with respect
to GRO
expression. We also demonstrate that IL-8 participates in the
regulation and interconnection of neutrophil inflammation and growth
stimulation. The latter aspect is particularly interesting in light of
the discovery of the angiogenic properties of both IL-8 and
GRO
.48,49
The time course of strong IL-8
expression correlates with an increase in vessel numbers within the
wound area between days 1 and 4. Whether IL-8 acts by a direct or
indirect angiogenic mechanism remains to be elucidated and depends on
whether sprouting vessels express the two IL-8-specific chemokine
receptors CXCR1 and CXCR2.
Taken together, our data support the concept that GRO
and
particularly IL-8 are important and early mediators at different levels
of the cytokine cascade during human skin wound healing. They may act
as mediators of neutrophil inflammation in the early catabolic phase as
well as stimulators of re-epithelialization and neoangiogenesis in the
anabolic phase of wound repair.
In our cutaneous wound model, neutrophil accumulation is followed by
the immigration of monocytes/macrophages. Maximum levels of MCP-1,
which trigger macrophage recruitment, are reached by day 1 and slowly
decline thereafter. Despite the capacity of resident dermal cell
species (eg, microvascular endothelial cells and dermal fibroblasts) to
produce a variety of C-C chemokines on stimulation in
vitro,56
the expression of all other
chemokines tested in our human model (MCP-3, MIP-1
, Mip-1ß, I309,
and RANTES) is quiescent.
In addition to the observation that in vitro data on
chemokine expression by resident cells of the skin are not relevant
in vivo, our data also strongly indicate that knowledge
about murine wound healing cannot easily be transferred to human wound
healing. Unlike murine wound repair, in which MIP-1
has been
suggested as a critical chemoattractant for
macrophages,36
the corresponding human chemokine
is not detectable and thus not relevant to macrophage recruitment in
human wounds.
Moreover, data from our human model indicates that basal keratinocytes
of the adjacent epidermis contribute significantly to the inflammatory
network in human wound repair by producing MCP-1, which has not been
observed in murine skin wound healing.38
As in
psoriasis, MCP-1 mRNA in wounded skin tissue is strongly
expressed in those basal keratinocytes which are
hyperproliferative.41
Therefore, it is tempting
to speculate that MCP-1 may indirectly stimulate growth through the
stimulation of recruited macrophages to produce growth factors such as
PDGF, bFGF, TGF
, or TGFß.5
To test this
hypothesis, we stimulated freshly isolated macrophages in
vitro with various concentrations of MCP-1. However, we could not
identify a significant stimulatory capacity of MCP-1 for growth factor
production in macrophages (unpublished observations). Therefore, our
data suggest the function of MCP-1 in human skin wounds appears to be
primarily the chemoattraction and activation of monocytes and
macrophages which are afterwards stimulated by other signals to produce
growth-promoting cytokines.
Whereas the role of neutrophils and macrophages is well established in
wound healing,1-3,5
lymphocytes have been
discussed mostly in the context of an antigen-specific immune response.
Because lymphocytes are also capable of producing growth
factors6,7
and are present in high numbers during
the whole period of healing, even constituting the major leukocyte
subpopulation after day 14, it is most likely that they actively
influence the processes of tissue repair and remodeling. In our wound
healing model, the chemokines MCP-1, Mig, and IP-10 are both T-cell
attractant and highly expressed at sites of lymphocyte accumulation. We
cannot exclude the possibility that other recently discovered
lymphocyte attractants such as pulmonary and activation-regulated
chemokine,57
thymus and activation-regulated
chemokine,58
or
lymphotactin59
may contribute to the pronounced
lymphocyte accumulation, especially between days 1 and 4 when Mig and
IP-10 expression is absent. Mig and IP-10 are not only
lymphocyte-dedicated chemokines; they also inhibit endothelial cell
chemotaxis and angiogenesis induced by IL-8 or
bFGF.49
The fact that vascularity increases until
day 4 but remains constant afterward, despite the presence of growth
factors such as bFGF and PDGF, suggests that angiostatic properties of
local factors can prevent unlimited vessel growth without blocking
other repair processes involved in wound healing. Mig and IP-10 fulfill
this criterion, for they can inhibit both endothelial cell chemotaxis
and angiogenic activities of growth factors such as IL-8 and FGF. The
relatively late appearance of Mig and IP-10 would thus preclude an
angiostatic milieu at the early phase of wound healing. Because Mig and
IP-10 are inducible by IFN
20,23
whereas
synthesis of MCP-1, IL-8, and GRO
is stimulated mainly by TNF
and
IL-1,10
the differential chemokine expression
profiles may reflect a high expression of TNF
and IL-1 in the early
phase and a delayed expression of IFN
in the late phase of wound
healing.
Our data on chemokines in adult human wound healing demonstrate that
expression of different chemokines is tightly regulated during an
ongoing, continuously changing inflammatory reaction and thus may
contribute to the phase-specific recruitment of leukocyte subsets.
Because skin wound healing is an ideal model for the study of
inflammatory reactions with sequential participation of neutrophils,
macrophages, and lymphocytes, our data on chemokine expression may also
be relevant to other diseases such as bacterial infections. In adult
skin wound healing, the interplay of GRO
, IL-8, Mig, IP-10, and
MCP-1 not only influences the targeting process of leukocyte subsets,
it also (and more importantly) coordinates the inflammatory reaction of
wound repair mechanisms. One can envision that particular chemokines
might be used as phase-specific therapeutic agents in the regulation of
wound repair.
| Acknowledgements |
|---|
| Footnotes |
|---|
Supported by the W. Sander-Stiftung, 95.064.
Accepted for publication August 31, 1998.
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
induces T lymphocyte chemotaxis. J Immunol 1995, 155:5359-5368[Abstract]
-interferon encodes a member of the platelet factor 4 family of cytokines. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1990, 87:5238-5242
-interferon-inducible cytokine (IP-10). J Exp Med 1987, 166:1084-1097
as a critical macrophage chemoattractant in murine wound repair. J Clin Invest 1998, 101:1693-1698[Medline]
and IL-8 mRNA in psoriasis: A model for neutrophil migration and accumulation in vivo. J Invest Dermatol 1996, 107:778-782[Medline]
and IL-8 mRNA is restricted to the suprapapillary layers of psoriatic lesions. J Invest Dermatol 1996, 106:526-530[Medline]
/LD78
and chemotactic for T lymphocytes, but not for monocytes. J Immunol 1997, 159:1140-1149[Abstract]
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