MCP-1 is selectively expressed in the late phase by cytokine-stimulated human neutrophils: TNF-alpha plays a role in maximal MCP-1 mRNA expression.

Culture supernatants of phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PHA-sup) induced monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) mRNA expression in human neutrophils. MCP-1 mRNA was first detected by Northern analysis at 8 h, and the peak level was detected at 16 h and sustained until 72 h. Cycloheximide and genistein, but not pertussis toxin, inhibited the expression of MCP-1 mRNA. Recombinant tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) induced a low level MCP-1 mRNA accumulation in neutrophils, and addition of anti-TNF-alpha IgG blocked 30-70% of MCP-1 mRNA expression induced with PHA-sup. PHA-sup-stimulated PMN synthesized and secreted 3.1+/-1.3 ng/5 x 10(6) PMN MCP-1 within the first 24 h. Hybridization of 32P-labeled cDNA preparations to an array of human cytokine cDNAs further indicated that MCP-1 mRNA was selectively up-regulated in the late phase after stimulation with the PHA-sup.