Table 2.

Flow cytofluorometric analysis of the membrane expression of PR3 on polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) from healthy donors after incubation with tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in vitro

Condition (concentration of TNF-α)	Percentage of PMN expressing PR3	P
Basal	18·0 ± 3·5	–
TNF-α (1 ng/ml)	25·3 ± 3·3	0·044*
TNF-α (3 ng/ml)	36·0 ± 0·8	0·014*
TNF-α (10 ng/ml)	52·3 ± 2·2	0·002*

PMN were incubated with TNF- a in increasing concentrations ranging from 1 to 10 ng/ml for 10 min. Subsequently, PMN (1 × 10⁶/ml) were incubated with MoAbs to PR3 (WGM2) for 20 min. After washing, second antibody (fluorescein (DTAF)-conjugated F(ab)₂ goat anti-mouse (IgG) was added. Subsequently the labelled cells were fixed with PBS containing 1·5% paraformaldehyde. The surface expression of PR3 given as the percentage of PMN showing PR3 expression on flow cytometric analysis. Data are means ± s.e.m. from nine experiments using cells from nine different donors.

^*Statistically significant difference between stimulated (TNF-α) and unstimulated PMN (basal).