Polymorphonuclear neutrophils release 35S-labelled proteoglycans into cartilage during frustrated phagocytosis.

Rabbit peritoneal polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), incubated in medium containing [35S]sulphate, incorporated 35S into proteoglycan and protein fractions. Approximately 46% of the 35S-labelled macromolecules associated with the PMN cells after 1 h of incubation were recovered in a cytoplasmic granule extract, the majority being present in azurophil granules. Analysis of the azurophil granule fraction showed that approximately 90% of the 35S-labelled macromolecules were proteoglycans. When challenged with heat-aggregated rabbit gamma-globulin in the presence of cytochalasin B and cGMP, PMN were induced to release granular enzymes but did not release 35S-labelled proteoglycans into the incubation medium. When incubated with articular cartilage slices, PMN released their granule 35S-labelled proteoglycan into the medium and into the cartilage matrix. Granule enzymes and 35S-labelled granule proteoglycan were extracted from the cartilage tissue after incubation and 35S-labelled macromolecules were detected in the cartilage tissue by autoradiography.