Pepro Tech
A more recent version of this article appeared on May 1, 2008

Published online before print February 1, 2008
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (Reprint (PDF))
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
jlb.0507302v1
83/5/1201    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bartlett, J. A.
Right arrow Articles by McCray, P. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bartlett, J. A.
Right arrow Articles by McCray, P. B., Jr.
© by The Society for Leukocyte Biology
Journal of Leukocyte Biology, doi:10.1189/jlb.0507302

Received for publication May 14, 2007.
Revised December 19, 2007.
Accepted for publication January 12, 2008.

Article

PLUNC is a secreted product of neutrophil granules

Jennifer A. Bartlett *, Benjamin J. Hicks {dagger}, Jamie M. Schlomann {ddagger}, Shyam Ramachandran {sect}, William M. Nauseef {ddagger}||, and Paul B. McCray Jr.*{sect}@

Departments of *Pediatrics and ||Internal Medicine, {ddagger}Inflammation and {sect}Genetics Ph.D. Programs, {dagger}Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

@ To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: paul-mccray{at}uiowa.edu.


arrow
Abstract

Airway epithelia and neutrophils are frequently recruited to release host-defense factors in response to a variety of pulmonary pathogens. One abundant product of airway epithelia is palate, lung, nasal epithelium clone (PLUNC), a proposed innate immune protein expressed in submucosal glands and surface airway epithelia. In this study, we report the expression of PLUNC in human neutrophils, a previously unrecognized source of this protein. Immunoblots performed on polymorphonuclear cell (PMN) lysates, and PMN subcellular fractions indicated that PLUNC was present in the specific granules of the neutrophil. Furthermore, secretion assays demonstrated that PLUNC protein was released by neutrophils upon stimulation with secretogogues, including formyl methionyl leucyl phenylalanine and the calcium ionophore A23187. Although recombinant PLUNC protein failed to exhibit antibacterial activity in our studies, its storage and secretion by a professional phagocytic cell support the hypothesis that PLUNC participates in an aspect of the inflammatory response that contributes to host defense. These studies suggest that PLUNC expression is less restricted than previously believed and highlight new avenues of research for the study of PLUNC function.

Key Words: innate immunity • endotoxin • inflammation • BPI • LBP




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
A. Garcia-Caballero, J. E. Rasmussen, E. Gaillard, M. J. Watson, J. C. Olsen, S. H. Donaldson, M. J. Stutts, and R. Tarran
SPLUNC1 regulates airway surface liquid volume by protecting ENaC from proteolytic cleavage
PNAS, July 7, 2009; 106(27): 11412 - 11417.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]