A Novel Cytokine That Activates Human Neutrophils

Abstract

A novel neutrophil-activating peptide was recently characterized by different laboratories and named NAF (neutrophil-activating factor) (Walz et al., 1987) MDNCF (monocyte-derived neutrophil chemotactic peptide) (Yoshimura et al., 1987) and MONAP (monocyte-derived neutrophil-activating peptide) (Gregory et al., 1988). The peptide detected in the culture fluids of stimulated human mononuclear phagocytes consists of 72 amino acids. Minor amino-terminal truncation variants are also found (Lindley et al., 1988). The major form was now obtained by recombinant methods and was shown to be biologically equivalent to purified natural NAF (Lindley et al., 1988).