The effect of tissue type-plasminogen activator deletion and associated fibrin(ogen) deposition on macrophage localization in peritoneal inflammation

Abstract

There are two plasminogen activators (PAS), urokinase type-PA (u-PA) and tissue type-PA (t-PA).While u-PA is considered to be involved in cellular migration and tissue remodeling and t-PA in fibrinolysis, this distinction is not always clear-cut.With the use of u-PA and t-PA gene deficient mice (u-PA-/- and t-PA-/- mice, respectively) we have assessed the role of each PA in acute peritonitis. The cellular infiltrate in both thioglycolate- and antigen-induced peritoneal exudates was unaffected in u-PA-/- mice; in contrast, in t-PA-/- mice, the macrophage numbers, particularly of the Mac- Ihi population, in the peritoneal cavity by day 4 were significantly reduced compared to wild-type mice. H..