CXCL1-CXCR2 axis mediates neutrophils recruitment in rat oral mucosa

A lot of researches have shown that besides acting as essential contributors in innate immune response, neutrophils involved in the interaction between innate and adaptive immune responses by generation of a cascade of chemokines. But the data on relationship between chemokines and neutrophils recruitment in oral mucosa have been little available. In the present study, on a rat model characterized by neutrophils infiltration, a distinct profile of cytokines and receptors in oral mucosa was presented by the techniques of PCR array. Moreover, among these cytokines, upexpression of CXCL1 and its receptor, CXCR2, was found to correlate with the level of myeloperoxidase (MPO), a biomarker of neutrophils infiltration, and the up-expression of CXCL1-CXCR2 was suppressed by FK506, an immunosuppressive agent. Our results indicated that CXCL1-CXCR2 axis might play an important role in mediating neutrophils recruitment in oral mucosa, which will give new insights into the mechanisms of innate and adaptive immune responses of oral mucosa.