| Factors regulating leukocyte recruitment: An overview | |
| Research field: | Gastrointestinal physiology |
| Authors: | Panés J |
| Address of presenting author: | Dept Gastroenterology Hospital Clinic Villarroel 170 08036 Barcelona Spain |
| E-mail: | panes@medicina.ub.es |
| Phone: | (34) 93 227 5418 |
| Fax: | (34) 93 451 6877 |
| Text of abstract |
Introduction Leukocyte-endothelial cell adhesion has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases that affect different organ systems. Examples of such diseases include atherosclerosis, gastric ulcers, hemorrhagic shock, myocardial infarction, stroke, and malaria. The recognition that leukocytes must firmly adhere to vascular endothelial cells in order to mediate the organ dysfunction and tissue injury associated with these diseases has resulted in an intensive effort to define the factors that modulate these cell-cell interactions. A major focal point of this effort has been directed towards identifying and characterizing the adhesion glycoproteins that enable leukocytes to bind to vascular endothelial cells. Classical studies on expression of endothelial cell adhesion glycoproteins (CAMs) based on immunohistochemistry have been complemented with new quantitative methods based on injection of radiolabeled antibodies that allow a precise measurement of CAMs expression in vivo in all organs. Data derived from both in vitro (isolated leukocytes binding to monolayers of cultured endothelial cells) and in vivo (intravital microscopic examination of venules) models of leukocyte-endothelial cell adhesion have revealed the relative contributions of different leukocyte and endothelial CAMs to the adhesion responses elicited by various inflammatory stimuli. These studies have also led to an appreciation of the potential cellular and molecular loci that can be targeted to interfere with leukocyte-endothelial cell adhesion. As a result, there is a widely held view that several of these loci also represent novel and potentially powerful therapeutic sites for treatment of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases.
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| Keywords: | Endothelium, leukocyte, adhesion molecules. |
Created 2000-04-26