Lymphocyte cooperation is required for amplification of macrophage procoagulant activity.

Murine splenic lymphoid cells have been shown to possess basal procoagulant activity. This activity was localized to most macrophages by assay of cell populations, as well as by a direct plaque assay that permitted identification of expressed procoagulant activity of individual viable cells as well as content. Both content and viable expression of procoagulant activity was markedly increased by exposure to bacterial lipopolysaccharide, reaching a maximum after 6 h. The quantitative increase in procoagulant activity content and viable expression was limited to the macrophage population. Separated populations of lymphocytes or macrophages could not be stimulated by lipopolysaccharide to increase procoagulant activity, whereas the addition of lymphocytes to macrophages at a 3-4:1 ratio maximally reconstituted the amplification of procoagulant activity. Further evidence of cellular collaboration followed from observation that only lymphocytes that had been exposed to lipopolysaccharide were capable of triggering the increase in macrophage procoagulant activity. This appears to represent a new form of lymphocyte-macrophage cooperation in an effector pathway that may participate in some forms of immunologic responses and contribute to the phenotypic features of certain immunologic tissue lesions.