Leucocyte interactions with the mouse cremaster muscle microcirculation in vivo in response to tumour-conditioned medium

Leucocyte interactions with the cremaster muscle microcirculation in vivo were investigated in response to culture medium conditioned with different cell types in 25 adult male Swiss mice. Animals were divided into five groups. Three groups received ex vivo fluorescently labelled lymphokine activated killer (LAK) cells systemically and had either tumour (murine melanoma K1735)-conditioned medium (TCM), fibroblast (murine 3T3)-conditioned medium (FCM) or fresh culture medium administered topically to the cremaster muscle. In the two remaining groups, the host leucocytes were labelled fluorescently by systemic administration of acridine red, and either TCM or FCM was applied topically to the cremaster muscle. There was an immediate but transient increase in the frequency of rolling and adherent LAK cells, and a subsequent (90-120 min later) increase in rolling and adherent host leucocytes, demonstrating temporal differences in the response to topical administration of TCM. These increases in contact with the vascular endothelium occurred in all vessel types, venules, arterioles and capillaries, with the greatest response observed in the venules. The FCM and normal culture medium did not affect the distribution and localization of either LAK cells or host leucocytes. These data suggest that there are one or more soluble tumour-specific chemoattractants for leucocytes present in the conditioned medium. The mouse cremaster muscle microcirculation is therefore a useful model to investigate the mechanism of leucocyte-endothelium interactions in tumour biology.