Regulated expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in normal human osteoblastic cells.

An influx of monocytes is observed in many different physiological and pathophysiological states, including bone remodeling and injury. These cells appear at early stages of bone formation and repair and persist throughout the later stages. In experiments described here, unstimulated normal human osteoblastic cells did not produce detectable levels of monocyte chemotactic activity. However, interleukin-1 (IL-1)-stimulated normal human osteoblastic cells produced a chemoattractant that is similar to monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) at the levels of mRNA expression, protein production, and chemotactic activity. Northern blot analysis indicates that IL-1 elicits a dose-dependent increase in MCP-1 mRNA in normal human osteoblastic cells. Two proteins of M(r) 9,000 and M(r) 13,000 were specifically immunoprecipitated with MCP-1 antiserum from IL-1-stimulated normal human osteoblastic cells. Monocyte chemotactic activity from IL-1-treated cells was blocked by MCP-1 antiserum. These studies establish that normal human osteoblastic cells can be induced to produce monocyte chemoattractants and that this is accounted for by the induced expression of MCP-1.