Cell adhesion molecules have a key role in the migration of T cells to inflammatory foci. However, the effect of the endothelial-lymphocyte interaction on the activation of the latter cells remains unresolved. We have studied the effect of resting and stimulated endothelial cells (ECs) on the activation of peripheral blood T cells (PBTLs), as assessed by the expression of CD69 and CD25 activation antigens. The incubation of PBTLs with tumor necrosis factor-–activated EC monolayers, either alive or fixed, induced the expression of CD69 but not CD25, preferentially in the CD8⁺CD45RO⁺ cell subset. Furthermore, it induced the production of cytokines such as IFN-γ, but not that of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and IL-4. EC treated with other stimuli such as IL-1β, IFN-γ, or lipopolysaccharide also showed the same proactivatory effect on T cells. Lymphocyte activation was almost completely inhibited by blocking anti-CD18 and anti–intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (anti–ICAM-1) monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs), but only slightly affected by MoAbs against CD49d, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and anti–IL-15. In addition, the interaction of PBTL with immobilized ICAM-1 induced CD69 expression in the same memory T-cell subset. IL-15 induced T-cell activation with expression of CD69 and CD25, and production of IFN-γ, and its effect was additive with that triggered by cell adhesion to either EC or immobilized ICAM-1. The transmigration of PBTLs through either confluent EC monolayers or ICAM-1–coated membranes also induced efficiently the expression of CD69. When IL-15 was used as chemoattractant in these assays, a further enhancement in CD69 expression was observed in migrated cells. Together these results indicate that stimulated endothelium may have an important role in T-cell activation, through the lymphocyte function antigen-1/ICAM-1 pathway, and that IL-15 efficiently cooperates in this phenomenon. These observations could account for the abundance of CD69⁺ cells in the lymphocytic infiltrates of several chronic inflammatory diseases.