Background: Voltage-gated sodium channels generate action potentials in excitable cells, but they have also been attributed noncanonical roles in nonexcitable cells. We hypothesize that voltage-gated sodium channels play a functional role during extravasation of neutrophils.
Methods: Expression of voltage-gated sodium channels was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction. Distribution of Nav1.3 was determined by immunofluorescence and flow cytometry in mouse models of ischemic heart and kidney injury. Adhesion, transmigration, and chemotaxis of neutrophils to endothelial cells and collagen were investigated with voltage-gated sodium channel inhibitors and lidocaine in vitro. Sodium currents were examined with a whole cell patch clamp.
Results: Mouse and human neutrophils express multiple voltage-gated sodium channels. Only Nav1.3 was detected in neutrophils recruited to ischemic mouse heart (25 ± 7%, n = 14) and kidney (19 ± 2%, n = 6) in vivo. Endothelial adhesion of mouse neutrophils was reduced by tetrodotoxin (56 ± 9%, unselective Nav-inhibitor), ICA121431 (53 ± 10%), and Pterinotoxin-2 (55 ± 9%; preferential inhibitors of Nav1.3, n = 10). Tetrodotoxin (56 ± 19%), ICA121431 (62 ± 22%), and Pterinotoxin-2 (59 ± 22%) reduced transmigration of human neutrophils through endothelial cells, and also prevented chemotactic migration (n = 60, 3 × 20 cells). Lidocaine reduced neutrophil adhesion to 60 ± 9% (n = 10) and transmigration to 54 ± 8% (n = 9). The effect of lidocaine was not increased by ICA121431 or Pterinotoxin-2.
Conclusions: Nav1.3 is expressed in neutrophils in vivo; regulates attachment, transmigration, and chemotaxis in vitro; and may serve as a relevant target for antiinflammatory effects of lidocaine.