Do Neutrophils Synthesize and Express TF?
Since the discovery that TF may be induced in monocytes,47 several attempts have been undertaken in order to resolve whether any of the other blood cells may harbour TF. The first report proclaiming the presence of TF also in neutrophils, derived from a study of TF expression in tissues of animals subjected to LPS. Infiltrating neutrophils in the liver of rabbits with acute obstructive cholangitis (AOC), one of the most fatal causes of sepsis, were demonstrated immunohistochemically using specific anti-TF antibodies.77 The same group later found that in this in vivo animal model PAF plays an important role in neutrophil TF expression.78 These investigators recently claimed that neutrophils accumulating in the liver of monkeys 3 hours after i.v. administration of LPS contained TF antigen as well as TF mRNA.79 However, the most significant contribution to the debate whether neutrophils express TF came from a study identifying TF-containing neutrophils and monocytes immunocytochemically i
