Anti-adhesive proteins and resolution of neutrophil-mediated inflammation

The onset of inflammatory response is associated with neutrophil recruitment into infected or injured tissues, whereas the resolution of inflammation, on the contrary, requires blockade of further recruitment and clearance of the recruited cells. Adhesion of circulating neutrophils to the endothelium represents a crucial step in their recruitment into the inflamed tissues. Previous studies have identified a number of proteins which can interfere with neutrophil–endothelial adhesive interactions and act as natural inhibitors of the leukocyte egress from the circulation. Essentially, these proteins are up-regulated in inflammation and, therefore, have potential pro-resolving activity. Knockout animals deficient in the anti-adhesive proteins demonstrated increased magnitude and duration of acute inflammation indicating that the proteins play a non-redundant role in dampening the inflammatory response. This paper is a review of the experimental data supporting the hypothesis that the up-regulation of the anti-adhesive proteins may represent an anti-inflammatory mechanism that contributes to the resolution of inflammation.