Adhesion of blood-borne monocytes to the vascular endothelium is the first step in the infiltration of this leukocyte into the vessel wall or the interstitial space during inflammation. A significant role for the monocyte in both wound healing and atherogenesis is now well accepted. The molecular interactions involved in monocyte attachment to the endothelium are unknown. To study this phenomenon we have developed an in vitro system that uses the human monocytic tumor cell line U937 as a model for the blood-borne monocyte. 51Cr-labeled U937 cells were found to adhere with high affinity to cultured endothelial cells (ECs) from several sources. Much less binding was observed to either smooth muscle cells or fibroblasts from several species. Conditioned medium and cocultivation experiments ruled out the possibility that target cells could affect U937 cell binding by secretion of factors. Binding of U937 cells to porcine aortic ECs reached equilibrium after 30 min at 37 degrees C and 90 min at 4 degrees C with similar extent of binding at the two temperatures. Binding of U937 to the endothelium reached saturation at 9-12 U937 per porcine aortic EC (semi-confluent) with half-maximal binding at 1.5 X 10(6) U937 cells/ml. Bound cells dissociated with a half-life of 20 h at 37 degrees C. Adhesion of U937 cells was blocked by prior incubation of ECs with normal monocytes but not with platelets, lymphocytes, or neutrophils. Trypsin treatment or detergent solubilization of ECs inhibited U937 cell binding. A striking effect of EC density on monocytic cell adhesion was observed with bovine, rat, and porcine ECs. Confluent cultures of these cells exhibited negligible binding of U937, but when plated sparsely, the same cells were excellent targets for U937 cell adhesion. In addition, when confluent cultures of bovine aortic ECs were "wounded" with a cotton swab and then allowed to recover for 24 h at 37 degrees C, U937 cells were found to adhere most readily to the ECs migrating into the wound and neighboring the wound but not to ECs in the confluent monolayer away from the wound edge. These latter results may have implications for the focal adhesion of monocytes to the vessel wall in vivo.