The development of an extralymphatic T-lymphocyte focus of inflammation requires chemoattractant-induced cell migration and growth factor-induced cell proliferation. In a previous study, we identified a novel 13- to 15-kDa T-lymphocyte-specific chemotactic cytokine, endothelial cell-derived lymphocyte chemoattractant activity (ED-LCA), secreted by serotonin-stimulated human aortic endothelial cells. Based on its physicochemical and functional characteristics and antibody inhibition studies, ED-LCA is distinct from previously identified endothelial cell-derived IL-1, IL-6, and IL-8. Because of the association between T-lymphocyte chemotactic and growth factor activity, in the current study, we investigated the effect of ED-LCA on T cell growth by assessing its capacity to induce markers of the passage of T cells from the resting (G0) state into the G1 phase of the cell cycle, such as receptors for IL-2 (IL-2R) and transferrin (TFR), and class II major histocompatibility complex antigens (HLA-DR). Incubation of G0 freshly isolated human T lymphocytes for 48 h with chromatographically resolved, partially purified ED-LCA resulted in a threefold increase in expression of IL-2R, a threefold increase in TFR, and a twofold increase in HLA-DR. Double antibody labeling demonstrated that IL-2R was induced in both CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subsets. Although incubation of human T cells with ED-LCA alone did not induce DNA synthesis, addition of exogenous IL-2 to T cells pulsed with ED-LCA for 24 h caused an increase in DNA synthesis with a stimulation index of 3.5. By up-regulating functional cell surface receptors for IL-2 on T lymphocytes and priming them to respond to exogenous IL-2, ED-LCA is a competence growth factor. By virtue of its effect on T cells, as a chemotactic and competence factor, this endothelial cell-derived mitoattractant could participate with other T-cell growth factors like IL-2 in the generation of an extralymphatic T-lymphocyte inflammatory response.