Tachykinin production in granulomas of murine schistosomiasis mansoni

Preprotachykinins, the products of one gene, are the precursor molecules of three mammalian tachykinins called substance P (SP), substance K (SK), and neuropeptide K. An additional mammalian tachykinin, neurokinin B, has also been described. SP and possibly other tachykinins may modulate immunologic responses. Granulomas that form around parasite ova in murine schistosomiasis were examined for tachykinins. Tachykinins were extracted from granulomas by boiling or with detergent. Extracts examined by RIA and HPLC contained only immunoreactive SP. Granulomas were dispersed with collagenase and cultured in vitro for up to 4 h. Only immunoreactive SP appeared in the culture medium. SP immunoreactivity localized solely to granuloma eosinophils as demonstrated by a sensitive immunohistochemical technique. An antiserum that recognized SK, neuropeptide K, and neurokinin B, but which possessed low reactivity to SP, also stained these cells. Only prior absorption of each antiserum with the appropriate synthetic neuropeptide would abrogate the immunostaining. This suggested that tachykinins other than SP were present within these cells. However, results of in situ hybridization experiments intimated that eosinophils produced predominantly preprotachykinin mRNAs which encode SP but are devoid of the SK/neuropeptide K sequence. It is concluded that granuloma eosinophils make predominantly SP in deference to other tachykinins, and that tachykinins other than SP are unlikely to be important in the regulation of the early granulomatous response of murine schistosomiasis.