New models of intravital microscopy for analysis of chemokine receptor-mediated leukocyte vascular recognition.

Chemokines control selective targeting of circulating leukocytes to the microvasculature by triggering inside-out signal transduction pathways leading to integrin-dependent adhesion. Presently, a few examples of presentation of chemokines by the inner surface of blood vessels responsible for triggering leukocyte arrest are available. A complete pattern of chemokine expression and presentation by the endothelium in different tissues and in homeostatic versus inflammatory conditions is still lacking. This review describes a novel intravital microscopy model allowing visualization of cerebral vessels through the skull, and analysis of the interactions between different leukocyte subpopulations and the endothelium in brain superficial microvasculature of mice. It has been recently shown that inflamed brain endothelium expresses a combination of adhesion ligands and activating factor(s) for G(i)-linked receptors that together mediate lymphocyte recruitment, and that the combination of molecules involved in this central nervous system (CNS) venule adhesion cascade strongly favors the arrest of activated versus naive T cells. However, the identification of the chemokine(s) expressed by the endothelium leading to integrin activation and arrest still remains to be determined. The new approach presented here to study the brain microcirculation may provide an useful tool for further investigations of physiologic and pathologic events that occur in the CNS.