5-Oxo-6,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid induces important eosinophil transmigration through basement membrane components: comparison of normal and asthmatic eosinophils.

Basement membrane transmigration is an important step in tissue recruitment of eosinophils into inflamed tissue. Recent reports showed that this phenomenon is modulated by platelet-activating factor (PAF) in combination with cytokines and proteinases. We investigated the in vitro efficacy of 5-oxo-6,8,11, 14-eicosatetraenoic acid (5-oxo-ETE), a metabolite of arachidonic acid and known as a potent eosinophil chemotactic factor, in promoting the transmigration of blood eosinophils from normal and asthmatic subjects through a Matrigel basement membrane. 5-Oxo-ETE proved to be a more potent (> 10-fold) inducer of eosinophil transmigration than PAF, and this effect was similar in cells from normal and asthmatic subjects (82.0 +/- 3.7% and 88.1 +/- 3.7%, respectively). Moreover, 5-oxo-ETE was active in the absence of interleukin (IL)-5, although this cytokine amplified the effect of 5-oxo-ETE from 61.3 +/- 3.3% to 92.8 +/- 1.8% (p = 0.003). The membrane receptor for urokinase plasminogen activator (CD87), a serine protease, was observed on eosinophils, and its expression was increased by IL-5. The inhibition of both metalloproteinases (MMP) and plasmin/plasminogen complex with inhibitor or monoclonal antibodies decreased cell transmigration by about 50%. Combination of an MMP inhibitor with anti-CD87 antibodies had no additive effect. These data show that 5-oxo-ETE is an efficient promoter of eosinophil transmigration in vitro, and is much more potent in this respect than PAF. The data suggest that 5-oxo-ETE could play an important role in eosinophil recruitment in vivo. Moreover, they demonstrate that in addition to MMP, the plasmin/plasminogen system could be involved in eosinophil transmigration.