Published ahead of print on September 18, 2003, doi:10.1165/rcmb.2002-0273OC
© 2004 American Thoracic Society DOI: 10.1165/rcmb.2002-0273OC Oxidant-Injured Airway Epithelial Cells Upregulate Thioredoxin but Do Not Produce Interleukin-8Center for Comparative Respiratory Biology and Medicine, and Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California Address correspondence to: Dallas M. Hyde, Ph.D., The Center for Comparative Respiratory Biology and Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616. E-mail: dmhyde{at}ucdavis.edu
We tested the hypothesis that oxidant-injured cells upregulate thioredoxin, whereas oxidant-stressed, but not injured, cells upregulate interleukin (IL)-8 after injury. We exposed primary human tracheobronchial epithelial cells and transformed human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B S.6) to 0, 200, 400, or 600 µM H2O2 for 1 h followed by an additional 7 h of incubation. Subsequently, the cells were double-labeled with markers of injury (either Ethidium Homodimer-1 for cellular injury or MitoTracker dye for functional mitochondria) or oxidant stress (5-[and 6]-chloromethyl-2',7'-dicholorodihydrofluorescein diacetate) and antibodies specific for the chemoattractants IL-8 or thioredoxin. We found significant inverse relationships between numbers and stained chemoattractant volumes of IL-8 and thioredoxin-positive cells with increasing H2O2 dose. Cells with mitochondrial injury produced thioredoxin but not IL-8, and oxidant-stressed cells were more likely to produce thioredoxin than IL-8. Isolated human neutrophils were more likely to colocalize with thioredoxin-positive BEAS-2B S.6 cells than thioredoxin-negative cells. The H2O2 injury did not induce significant apoptosis in the BEAS-2B S.6 cells as measured by caspase 3 activation. We conclude that oxidant-injured and stressed airway epithelial cells upregulate thioredoxin, but produce little IL-8, which may be important in airway epithelial cellmediated multistep navigation of neutrophils to sites of oxidant injury.
Abbreviations: activator protein-1, AP-1 bronchial epithelial growth medium, BEGM bovine serum albumin, BSA fluorescein isothiocyanate, FITC Hanks' balanced salt solution, HBSS interleukin, IL nuclear factor IL-6, NFIL-6 nuclear factor-
Cellular injury and oxidative stress occur in numerous inflammatory conditions, but are often transient events as cells are repaired or removed. However, these events may have profound effects in orchestrating and enhancing the subsequent inflammatory and reparative responses. Numerous studies have shown that reactive oxygen species are important in activating transcription factors such as nuclear factor- B (NF- B), nuclear factorinterleukin (IL)-6 (NFIL-6), and activator protein-1 (AP-1), which in turn activate many critical genes involved in inflammation, including many cytokine genes. Cytokines, such as IL-8, are important in recruiting inflammatory cells to a site of injury that is followed by cellular repair. In a series of experiments, Hyde and colleagues have shown that the neutrophil influx following IL-8 production is critical in hastening airway epithelial repair after ozone exposure (1, 2).
Thioredoxin, a ubiquitous stress-inducible protein, has both intracellular and extracellular functions. Intracellularly, it maintains a cell's reduction/oxidation status by a disulfide bond within the conserved active site, Cys-Gly-Pro-Cys (3). Cellular redox control is critical for numerous cell functions including DNA binding activity of NF- Recently, thioredoxin has been identified as a unique chemoattractant for human neutrophils, monocytes, and T cells. Similar to cytokines, thioredoxin can be released by certain cells, such as lymphocytes, upon activation. In contrast to typical chemokines, thioredoxin does not increase intracellular calcium in leukocytes and its action is G-proteinindependent. Thioredoxin likely does not act through a chemokine receptor, but rather may initiate signal transduction for chemotaxis by oxidizing and cross-linking certain cell surface molecules (5). Functioning as a chemokine, thioredoxin is partially responsible for neutrophil migration across airway epithelium in an in vitro model (6). In this same study, neutrophil transepithelial migration was independent of IL-8.
Numerous studies have shown that tissues or populations of cells upregulate thioredoxin after oxidant stress. Stressors, including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), ultraviolet irradiation, and tumor necrosis factor-
Thioredoxin can function as a link between oxidant stress and initiation of an inflammatory response. Once secreted, very low concentrations of thioredoxin (13 µM) strongly stimulate the cytokines TNF- To further understand the production and upregulation of thioredoxin and IL-8 at the cellular level, we investigated the relationship between oxidative stress and injury and cytokine production using airway epithelial cells exposed to H2O2. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to investigate whether individual oxidant-stressed or injured cells can produce IL-8 or thioredoxin. Thioredoxin is produced and upregulated by oxidant-stressed and injured airway epithelial cells in contrast to IL-8, which shows very limited production in injured or stressed cells. These results suggest that cytokine production is differentially regulated by cells depending on the type of stress or injury they have sustained during an oxidant insult.
Cell Culture Human tracheobronchial tissue was obtained from the Medical Center of the University of California, Davis (Davis, CA), Sacramento Organ Donation Foundation, Inc. (Sacramento, CA), and the National Disease Research Interchange (Philadelphia, PA). The University of California at Davis Human Subjects Review Committee approved all procedures involved in the tissue procurement. Primary tracheobronchial epithelial cell isolation and culture methods were performed as described previously (15). Transformed human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B S.6) were a gift from Dr. Curtis Harris (Bethesda, MD). The BEAS-2B S.6 cell line was derived from normal human bronchial epithelial cells immortalized with an SV40-adenovirus 12 hybrid virus (16). Both cell lines were maintained in serum-free bronchial epithelial growth medium (BEGM; Clonetics, San Diego, CA) without retinoic acid and trypsinized every week. Primary tracheobronchial epithelial cells (TBE) were used between passages 1 and 4. The BEAS-2B S.6 cells were used for experiments between passages 30 and 45, at which time they maintain transepithelial resistance (6).
Cell Injury and IL-8/Thioredoxin Using stratified random sampling, the number of injured BEAS-2B S.6 (Ethidium Homodimer-1 positive or MitoTracker-negative) and IL-8positive cells were counted on an epifluorescent microscope (Olympus Provis) in a x40 field (representing a 0.152 mm2 area per field) for 10 fields at each dose of H2O2. Additionally, using stratified random sampling four IL-8positive cells were imaged at x100 in each of the 10 fields for a total of 40 IL-8positive cells per H2O2 dose. The image of each cell was imported into Stereology Toolbox (Morphometrix, Davis, CA) for point counts to determine the volume of IL-8 per total cell volume (VIL-8/Vcell) (17). For thioredoxin staining of the BEAS-2B S.6 and all the TBE cell staining, 10 random images per H2O2 dose were taken at x40 on an epifluorescent microscope (Olympus Provis). Using Stereology Toolbox, the number of injured or uninjured IL-8 or thioredoxin-positive cells was counted (representing a 0.04 mm2 area per field for the BEAS-2B S.6 experiments and 0.0784 mm2 for the TBE cell experiments). Additionally, the volume of thioredoxin staining per total cell volume of four randomly selected thioredoxin-positive BEAS-2B S.6 cells were counted for each image (Vthioredoxin/Vcell) (17).
To assess the integrity of the Golgi apparatus after incubation with hydrogen peroxide, two control experiments were performed. First, monolayers of BEAS-2B S.6 cells were exposed to either 0 or 600 µM H2O2 in BEGM with TNF-
As a second control, monolayers of BEAS-2B S.6 were exposed to either 0 or 600 µM H2O2 in BEGM without cytokines or monensin. This media was removed and the monolayers were incubated in BEGM with 50 ng/ml TNF-
Oxidant Stress and IL-8/Thioredoxin
Identification of Apoptotic BEAS-2B S.6 Cells
Colocalization of Human Neutrophils with Thioredoxin-Stained BEAS-2B S.6 Using stratified random sampling, 20 fields per co-culture were imaged at x40 on an epiflourescent microscope. Then, using Stereology Toolbox (Morphometrix, Davis, CA), the number of neutrophils associated with thioredoxin-positive and thioredoxin-negative cells were counted. Colocalization was defined as neutrophils touching or within one-half epithelial cell diameter of the thioredoxin-positive or -negative cells. When neutrophils were surrounded by multiple epithelial cells, only one BEAS-2B S.6 cell was counted with thioredoxin-positive cells taking precedence over thioredoxin-negative cells. The number of neutrophils associated with thioredoxin-positive or -negative cells was calculated as a percentage of neutrophil binding above baseline conditions (0 µM H2O2).
Statistical Analysis
To determine if neutrophils colocalize with thioredoxin-positive cells, we analyzed the percentage of neutrophils binding with thioredoxin-positive compared with -negative cells above nonspecific binding conditions. The numbers of neutrophils touching or within a one-half epithelial cell diameter were combined and a Mann Whitney U test was performed. Results were considered significant when P
Increased Cell Injury and Oxidant Stress with Increasing H2O2 Dose As expected, we saw increasing cellular and mitochondrial injury and oxidant stress with increasing H2O2 dose in the BEAS-2B S.6. Cellular injury was defined as Ethidium Homodimer-1positive cells. Ethidium Homodimer-1 is cell impermeable until there is a defect in the cell membrane. Then the dye readily enters the cell, binds to nucleic acids, and fluoresces. Mitochondrial injury was defined as cells that were completely negative with MitoTracker dye. MitoTracker dye readily diffuses across cell membranes, where it accumulates and fluoresces in functional mitochondria. To investigate the response to oxidant stress, cells were loaded with the oxidant sensitive dye, 5-(and 6)-chloromethyl-2',7'-dicholorodihydrofluorescein diacetate before H2O2 exposure. This dye diffuses into cells, where subsequent oxidation yields a fluorescent adduct that is trapped in the cell. The dye detects a broad range of oxidizing reactions that may be increased during intracellular oxidant stress (20). Figure 1 shows significantly more BEAS-2B S.6 cells displayed cellular and mitochondrial injury with the 600 µM H2O2 dose compared with lower doses (P < 0.01 for 0, 200, and 400 versus 600 µM H2O2 for Ethidium homodimer; P < 0.01 for 0 and 200 versus 600 µM H2O2 for MitoTracker). As expected, more cells also displayed oxidant stress with increasing H2O2 concentration. Monolayers at 0 µM and 200 µM H202 sustained significantly less oxidant stress compared with higher H2O2 concentrations (0 versus 200, 400, and 600 µM; P < 0.01; 200 versus 400 and 600 µM; P < 0.01).
IL-8 and Thioredoxin Production Differs Depending on the Oxidant Injury Status of the Cell To investigate how much oxidant stress or injury an airway epithelial cell can sustain and produce IL-8 or thioredoxin, cells were stained with several markers representing a range of injury. Very few injured BEAS-2B S.6 cells expressed the activated form of caspase-3 (data not shown). Figure 2 is a summary of the staining observed with each marker of injury and IL-8 or thioredoxin. In both the TBE cells and BEAS-2B S.6, we found an inverse relationship between IL-8positive cells and injured and stressed cells using all three markers of cell injury. That is, uninjured cells were significantly more likely to produce IL-8 compared with cells that were injured or oxidant-stressed (TBE cells: IL-8positive/Ethidium Homodimer-1positive versus IL-8positive/Ethidium Homodimer-1negative: P < 0.01 for 0, 200, and 400 and P < 0.02 for 600 µM H2O2; IL-8positive/MitoTracker-positive versus IL-8positive/MitoTracker-negative: P < 0.01 for 0, 200, and 400; IL-8positive/oxidant stresspositive versus IL-8positive/oxidant stressnegative: P < 0.01 for 0 and P = 0.041 for 200 µM H2O2. BEAS-2B S.6: IL-8positive/Ethidium Homodimer-1positive versus IL-8positive/Ethidium Homodimer-1negative: P < 0.01 for 0, 200, 400, and 600 µM H2O2; IL-8positive/ MitoTracker-positive versus IL-8positive/MitoTracker-negative: P < 0.01 for 0, 200, 400, and 600 µM H2O2; IL-8positive/oxidant stresspositive versus IL-8positive/oxidant stressnegative: P < 0.01 for 200, 400, and 600 µM H2O2).
In contrast, thioredoxin was more likely to be produced by airway epithelial cells that had sustained mitochondrial injury (TBE cells: thioredoxin-positive/MitoTracker-positive versus thioredoxin-positive/MitoTracker-negative: P < 0.01 for 200, 400, and 600 µM H2O2. BEAS-2B S.6: thioredoxin-positive/MitoTracker-positive versus thioredoxin-positive/MitoTracker-negative: P < 0.01 for 0, 200, 400, and 600 µM H2O2). Cells that sustained cellular injury (Ethidium Homodimer-1positive) did not produce thioredoxin (TBE cells and BEAS-2B S6: thioredoxin-positive/Ethidium Homodimer-1positive versus thioredoxin-positive/Ethidium Homodimer-1negative: P < 0.01 for 0, 200, 400, and 600 µM H2O2). These results imply that a cell can sustain only a certain degree of injury and still produce thioredoxin. If the injury is too severe, such as necrosis, the cell is unable to produce IL-8 or thioredoxin. Our results with thioredoxin-positive cells and oxidant stress were equivocal. In the TBE cells, there was no significant difference in the oxidant stress status of the thioredoxin-positive cells. In the BEAS-2B S.6 cell line thioredoxin-positive cells were significantly more likely to be oxidant stressnegative than positive only at 400 µM H2O2 (thioredoxin-positive/oxidant stresspositive versus thioredoxin-positive/oxidant stressnegative: P < 0.01). However, in both cell lines, oxidant-stressed cells were significantly more likely to produce thioredoxin than IL-8 after exposure to H2O2 (TBE cells: IL-8positive/oxidant stresspositive versus thioredoxin-positive/oxidant stresspositive P < 0.01; BEAS-2B S.6: IL-8positive/oxidant stresspositive versus thioredoxin-positive/oxidant stresspositive P < 0.01 for 400 and 600 µM H2O2). Taken together, these results indicate that cells need to sustain a certain degree of injury to upregulate thioredoxin. When exposed to a lesser degree of oxidant stress, a large number of cells will not produce thioredoxin. Alternatively, the dye that we used as an indicator of oxidant stress may not have been a sensitive indicator of when a stressed cell will upregulate thioredoxin. Tables 1 and 2 summarize the differential cell counting in the TBE cells after H2O2 exposure. Table 1 summarizes the percentage of cells stained with each marker of injury or stress and thioredoxin over all H2O2 concentrations (mean percentage ± SE) and Table 2 summarizes the percentage of cells stained with the same markers and IL-8 (mean percentage ± SE). As with the data expressed in mm2, nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA tests were performed on this data with no differences in the outcome of significance.
A Significant Inverse Relationship between the Number of IL-8 and Thioredoxin-Positive Cells with Increasing H2O2 Dose Figures 3A and 3B demonstrate that whereas the number of IL-8positive cells decreased with increasing H2O2 dose, the number of thioredoxin-positive cells increased in both cell lines. Figure 3A demonstrates that in both the TBE cells and BEAS-2B S.6, there were significantly more IL-8positive cells at 0 µM H2O2 compared with higher H2O2 doses (TBE cells: 0 versus 400 and 600 µM, P < 0.01; BEAS-2B S.6: 0 versus 200 µM, P = 0.02; 0 versus 400 µM, P = 0.03; 0 versus 600 µM, P < 0.01). Figure 3B shows that TBE cells produced significantly more thioredoxin only at 400 µM H2O2 compared with 0 µM H2O2 (P = 0.039) whereas the BEAS-2B S6 cells produced significantly more thioredoxin at 600 µM H202 compared with the lower doses (P < 0.01). In the BEAS-2B S.6, both a Spearman partial correlation and Kendall b partial correlation showed an overall significance for a negative relationship between the number of IL-8positive and thioredoxin-positive cells over all the H2O2 concentrations (P < 0.01). These results demonstrate that there is a significant inverse relationship between IL-8positive cells and thioredoxin-positive cells relative to oxidant injury. That is, airway epithelial cells are significantly more likely to retain IL-8 with no or minimal exposure to H2O2 but more likely to produce thioredoxin when they are exposed to higher concentrations of H2O2.
Individual BEAS-2B S.6 Cells Produce Less IL-8 and More Thioredoxin with Increasing H2O2 Dose To investigate if there was a dose response in the amount of cytokine an individual cell produces in response to an oxidant insult, the volume of IL-8 or thioredoxin per BEAS-2B S.6 cell was estimated at each dose of H2O2 (Vcytokine/Vcell). Monensin (GolgiStop) was used in all the cell culture media to block intracellular protein transport and result in the accumulation of chemokines in the Golgi complex. Thus, the net accumulation of IL-8 and thioredoxin over the 8-h period was estimated. Figure 4A demonstrates that the volume of IL-8 per cell volume decreased with increasing H2O2 concentration. Cells exposed to 0 µM and 200 µM produced significantly more IL-8 than cells at 400 µM and 600 µM H2O2 (0 versus 400 and 600 µM, P < 0.01; 200 versus 400 µM, P = 0.01; 200 versus 600 µM, P < 0.01). Figure 4B demonstrates the opposite effect for thioredoxin. That is, the volume of thioredoxin per cell volume increased with increasing H2O2 concentration. Cells exposed to 400 µM and 600 µM produced significantly more thioredoxin than cells at 0 µM and 200 µM H2O2 (600 versus 0, 200, and 400 µM, P < 0.01; and 400 versus 0 and 200 µM, P < 0.01). Our data show that with increasing H2O2 concentration, cells produce less IL-8 and more thioredoxin.
No Observable Injury to the Golgi Apparatus with H2O2 Incubation To assess the integrity of the Golgi apparatus after hydrogen peroxide incubation, we performed two control experiments in the BEAS-2B S.6 cells. First, we used a Golgi specific dye to visualize the Golgi after exposure to 600 µM H2O2 compared with 0 µM H2O2 and found no difference in staining characteristics between these groups (data not shown). Second, after exposing cells to either 0 or 600 µM H2O2, cells were strongly stimulated for IL-8 production with TNF- and IL-1ß in the presence of monensin for 7 h similar to the time course of these experiments. There was no significant difference in the number of IL-8positive cells between the hydrogen peroxide doses (data not shown). These data indicate that the Golgi apparatus remains intact with negligible leakage of IL-8 even after exposure to 600 µM H2O2.
Human Neutrophils Colocalized with Thioredoxin-Positive BEAS-2B S.6 Cells
In this paper, we investigated the phenotype of the airway epithelial cell that produces IL-8 and thioredoxin at the individual cell level after an oxidant injury in two different cell lines. Specifically, we investigated the degree of injury or stress that an airway epithelial cell could sustain and produce either IL-8 or thioredoxin. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to correlate the state of cell injury or stress with chemokine production at the individual airway epithelial cell level. For this study, we chose to use hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant and a dose range (0600 µM) that resulted in a good distribution of injured and noninjured cells. Additionally, we used monensin, an intracellular protein transport inhibitor, in all the cell culture media to prevent secretion of chemokines. Thus, the chemokines accumulated within individual cells from the time of injury through the postexposure period. This permitted good visualization of positive cells and allowed us to quantify the number of positive cells and the volume of chemokines produced during this period. We found similar results in both primary human airway epithelial cells and a transformed cell line, BEAS-2B S.6. Neither oxidant-injured nor oxidant-stressed airway epithelial cells produced significant amounts of IL-8. Similarly, cells that sustained a large degree of cellular injury (Ethidium Homodimer-1positive) did not produce thioredoxin. These results indicate that there is a limit to the degree of injury a cell can sustain and produce either IL-8 or thioredoxin. Necrotic cells did not produce IL-8 or thioredoxin. However, in contrast to IL-8, airway epithelial cells with mitochondrial injury (MitoTracker-negative) did produce and upregulate thioredoxin. Likewise, oxidant-stressed airway epithelial cells were more likely to produce thioredoxin than IL-8. These results indicate that airway epithelial cells produce different chemokines depending on their degree of oxidant injury or stress that may play distinct roles in navigating neutrophils to a site of oxidant injury. To reach a site of injury, neutrophils must travel out of the vasculature, across a connective tissue space, and in some cases, across an epithelial barrier. Some investigators have begun to define a multistep paradigm with different chemokines creating distinct gradients to guide neutrophils to the site of injury. Foxman and colleagues found that neutrophils were able to effectively chemotax to a secondary distant signal after migrating up a primary gradient and reaching a saturated concentration. They proposed a multistep model of chemoattractant-directed migration requiring leukocytes to respond to multiple serial signals with distinct microenvironmental localization (21). In fact, using a model of intestinal epithelium colonized by Salmonella typhimurium, McCormick and colleagues have proposed a paradigm in which epithelial cells release chemokines, including IL-8, basolaterally to recruit neutrophils across the subepithelial matrix. Recently, they found S. typhimurium attachment to apical epithelial membranes induced apical release of pathogen-elicited epithelial chemoattractant (PEEC), which may direct neutrophil movement across the epithelium (22, 23). Similar to intestinal epithelium, there is evidence that multiple chemoattractant gradients are necessary to guide neutrophils up to and then across an airway epithelial barrier. Like intestinal epithelium, basolateral secretion of IL-8 has been shown in other types of epithelium, including retinal and type II epithelial cells (24, 25). Numerous studies have shown the importance of IL-8 in recruiting neutrophils to sites of injury, although it may not be an important mediator in drawing neutrophils across an epithelial barrier. Miller and colleagues found that migration of neutrophils across a monolayer of airway epithelial cells was dependent on both thioredoxin and pertussis toxinsensitive mediators, but was independent of IL-8 (6). Their study demonstrated that thioredoxin, not IL-8, is an important mediator for neutrophil transepithelial migration. Once neutrophils arrive at a site of epithelial injury, evidence suggests that they are important in removing injured airway epithelial cells and hastening epithelial repair. In a series of experiments using in vitro type II alveolar cells, rats, and rhesus monkeys, Hyde and colleagues found that neutrophils enhance the repair of ozone-injured airway epithelium (2, 26, 27). In one study, rhesus monkeys were exposed to 0.8 ppm ozone and administered a function-blocking monoclonal antibody against CD18 to prevent neutrophil emigration. They found a significant number of necrotic airway epithelial cells when neutrophil influx was blocked; however, when neutrophils were recruited back into the contralateral lung with instillation of C5a, there were significantly fewer necrotic cells. They concluded that neutrophils contribute to the repair of oxidant-injured airway epithelium by removing injured epithelial cells. Our findings that neutrophils colocalize with thioredoxin-positive airway epithelial cells, which are likely to be oxidant-injured or -stressed, suggests that thioredoxin production, at least in part, is important in this neutrophil-dependent removal. We propose that IL-8 and thioredoxin may be creating two distinct gradients guiding neutrophils to a site of oxidant injury. IL-8, produced by uninjured neighboring cells, may create a primary gradient to guide neutrophils out of the vasculature and across the connective tissue, whereas thioredoxin, produced in part by oxidant-injured and -stressed airway epithelial cells, may create a secondary gradient guiding neutrophils across the airway epithelium and target oxidant-injured airway epithelial cells for neutrophil-dependent removal.
Thioredoxin production by oxidant-injured and -stressed airway epithelial cells may induce healthy neighboring cells to upregulate IL-8. Several investigators have established that thioredoxin acts to regulate the expression of other cytokines. At low concentrations, thioredoxin strongly stimulates mRNA and protein production of IL-1, IL-2, TNF, and IL-8 in several different cell types. Thioredoxin induced the human monocytic cell line, Mono Mac6, to increase IL-8 mRNA after phorbolester stimulation (13). Additionally, IL-8 promoter activity was enhanced in BEAS-2B airway epithelial cells after treatment with thioredoxin (14). Both of these investigators have shown that thioredoxin activates NF- Many studies showing that oxidants, such as H2O2, increase IL-8 production, may seem contradictory to our findings that IL-8 is not produced by oxidant-stressed airway epithelial cells. DeForge and colleagues found that oxidant stress was an important regulator for IL-8 gene expression (29). They found that exposure of Hep-G2 cells, A549 pulmonary type II epithelial cells, and human skin fibroblasts to H2O2 stimulated IL-8 production. Part of the discrepancy in results may be due to the different cell types used in these studies. Furthermore, prior studies investigated populations of cells and did not study the oxidant stress status of the individual IL-8producing cell. Hence, although there maybe an overall increase in IL-8 production by tissues or populations of cells induced by oxidant stress, the individual oxidant-stressed cells are not primarily responsible for the increase. In conclusion, our findings support the hypothesis that neither oxidant-injured nor oxidant-stressed airway epithelial cells produce IL-8, but they upregulate thioredoxin. We believe that these data are important in a multistep navigation of neutrophils to a site of oxidant injury.
The authors thank Neil Willits for statistical advice. They also thank Erica Gurley and Mara Schnayer for their laboratory assistance. Yu Hua Zhao expertly prepared all the human tracheobronchial epithelial cells for use in these experiments. This study was supported by NIH Grant ES00628, ES09701, and HL35635. Received in original form November 25, 2002 Received in final form September 16, 2003
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