Immobilized stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) has been shown to induce tight adhesion of T cells to purified ICAM-1 in assays done under flow conditions. In this study, we show that soluble SDF-1α induced a rapid (within 20 s) cessation of rolling and tight adhesion of> 90% of the rolling T cells on monolayers of activated endothelial cells under similar flow. Within 4 min, the T cells had either started to migrate between the endothelial cells or re-entered the rolling and circulating lymphocyte pool. This deadherence of the firmly bound cells, with either ensuing transmigration or continued rolling, was most likely due to desensitization of lymphocytes to the continuously present SDF-1α. The released rolling lymphocytes could still respond to other activating signals by a second round of tight adhesion. Pretreating the lymphocytes with pertussis toxin almost completely blocked the effect of the chemokine, confirming that the induction of firm adhesion was due to the function of the chemokine on the lymphocytes and not the endothelial cells. Pretreating the endothelium with SDF-1α did not lead to firm adhesion of subsequently added lymphocytes, also indicating that the effect was due to soluble, not endothelially bound, chemokine. Blocking experiments showed that the same molecules mediated rolling before and after SDF-1α-induced tight adhesion. This is the first study to demonstrate the effect of soluble SDF-1α on T cell rolling on an endothelial cell monolayer. The data broaden our understanding of the stimulatory factors directing the firm adhesion and ensuing transmigration of leukocytes into tissues through activated endothelium.