Interleukin-8 Induces the Expression of Hla-Dr Antigen on Human Keratinocytes

Abstract

Recent results suggest that interleukin-8 (IL-8) may directly influence several functions of epidermal cells, such as chemotaxis and Candida albicans killing activity. Since human keratinocytes possess the ability to express cell surface molecules characteristic of immune cells, we were interested in whether IL-8 was capable of modulating immune-associated surface markers of human keratinocytes. A transformed human epidermal cell line and cultured normal human keratinocytes were used for the studies. Cells were incubated with 10 nM IL-8 for 24 or 48 h, and the expression of HLA-DR, CD11a, CD18, OKM5 (CD36) and ICAM-1 was investigated by flow cytometry. We have found that IL-8 induced the MHC-II antigen expression on human keratinocytes. On the other hand, there was no effect on the expression of the other cell surface markers studied, suggesting that the IL-8induced HLA-DR expression is a rather specific effect of this cytokine. The modulation of immune-associated cell surface markers of human keratinocytes by IL-8 may be of significance in the pathogenesis of inflammatory skin diseases.