The neutrophil granule protein cathepsin G activates murine T lymphocytes and upregulates antigen-specific IG production in mice.
Cathepsin G is a neutrophil granule derived antimicrobial chymotrypsin-like enzyme. Our previous study showed that cathepsin G induces chemotactic migration of human phagocytic leukocytes and increases random migration of T lymphocytes. In this study, we investigated the capacity of cathepsin G to activate T lymphocytes and to modulate antigen-specific humoral responses in mice. We found that cathepsin G is mitogenic for and induces production of IFN-gamma by murine T cells in vitro. Injection of cathepsin G in BALB/c mice immunized with keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) adsorbed to aluminum hydroxide resulted in a significantly increased production of KLH-specific IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies. There was a dose-dependent increase in KLH-specific proliferation of lymphocytes from draining lymph nodes from mice treated with KLH and cathepsin G when compared with those treated with KLH alone. Subsequent analysis of IFN-gamma and IL-4 release following in vitro re-stimulation of draining lymph node lymphocytes obtained from KLH-immunized mice suggested that cathepsin G augments KLH-specific Ig antibody production via activation of T cells, presumably involving both Th1 and Th2 pathways. Thus, neutrophil granule cathepsin G, in addition to its capacity to kill microbes and to enhance leukocyte motility, activates T lymphocytes and modulates humoral immunity.[1]References
- The neutrophil granule protein cathepsin G activates murine T lymphocytes and upregulates antigen-specific IG production in mice. Tani, K., Murphy, W.J., Chertov, O., Oppenheim, J.J., Wang, J.M. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. (2001) [Pubmed]
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