Abstract
Chemotaxis of neutrophils or macrophages is a complex behavioral response to chemoattractant and one of the more important processes by which cells move from the blood vessels to an inflammatory site in the tissues. In this review, I will discuss about recent progresses in the field of research for mechanisms of chemotaxis first. The discovery of formyl peptides as chemoattractant by Dr. E. Schiffmann has given us many new knowledge about the mechanisms of chemotaxis. Highly radioactive peptides were used to demonstrate and study the peptide receptors on the human and the animal neutrophils or macrophages. The receptors on the cell membrane mediated both chemotaxis and release of lysosomal enzymes. Post receptor events which occur subsequent to the interaction of attractant with receptor are not clear yet. But the internalization of receptor-attractant complex into the cell, the involvement of methylation reaction and transglutaminase appear to be important way of regulating chemotaxis. Secondary, agents that are not chemoattractants themselves but that regulate cell movement are termed modulators. I am interested in the phenomenon that tumors show depressed immunity and susceptibility to infection. Many studies indicate that tumors produce substances that depress accumulation of cells to the site of tumors for the protection of themselves. To demonstrate such modulator is also essential for the study of inflammatory process.
