The inhibition of CR1 mobilization of human granulocytes by the presence of erythrocytes. A possible mechanism for intravascular regulation of granulocyte modulation.

In this study we show a spontaneous mobilization at 37 degrees of the complement receptor for C3b (CR1) of granulocytes prepared by a method in which erythrocytes were removed by specific lysis, as well as a method where granulocytes were prepared by dextran sedimentation at low temperature without using centrifugation. This increase of CR1-expression was not obtained when erythrocytes were present during the incubation. This inhibitory effect of erythrocytes was maximal at an erythrocyte:granulocyte ratio of 600:1 or more and was not caused by interference with the fluorescence of the immunoassay. EDTA plasma had no inhibitory effect on CR1 mobilization, indicating that the phenomenon was not due to plasma proteins, nor the used anti-coagulant. An increased CR1 mobilization was, however, obtained in the presence of erythrocytes if the granulocytes were simultaneously exposed to the chemotactic stimulus formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) at the concentration 10(-9) M or more. However, to obtain a CR1 expression comparable to systems without erythrocytes, a 10-fold higher concentration of FMLP was needed. These results suggest that the inhibitory effect of erythrocytes on the spontaneous receptor mobilization of granulocytes could be a mechanism to keep the complement receptors and other surface structures within the cells while circulating in the blood, to be expressed at the cellular surface only by the appropriate signal, such as propagated by soluble mediators from an inflammatory focus.