Adhesion Molecules Function And Inhibition

This volume gives a comprehensive overview on the most relevant leukocyte and endothelial adhesion molecules. The chapters are written by leaders in the field and focus on the biology, structure, function, and regulation of adhesion molecules. Currently approved adhesion molecule-based therapies are reviewed and an outlook for future approaches is also provided. The book is of interest to clinicians and scientists from immunology, physiology, cancer research, rheumatology, allergology, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, pulmonology and cardiology.

This book covers the structure and classification of adhesion molecules in relation to signaling pathways and gene expression. It discusses immunohistochemical localization, neutrophil migration, and junctional, functional, and inflammatory adhesion molecules in pathologies such as leukocyte decompression sickness and ischemia reperfusion injury. H

Provides an overview of the structure, transcription regulation and binding characteristics of cellular adhesion molecules and their ligands in the maintenance of function, immunological reactions and inflammatory processes with organ systems. The text examines the role of adhesion molecules in biological processes such as morphogenesis, blood coagulation, tumour metastasis, bone tissue remodelling and transplant rejection.

The Fourth Annual Pezcoller Symposium entitled Adhesion Molecules: Cellular Recognition Mechanisms was held in Rovereto, Italy, June 24-26, 1992 and was focussed on the detailed mechanisms whereby cells utilize certain integral membrane proteins to perceive their surrounding environment and interact with it. With timely presentations and stimulating discussions this Symposium addressed the genetics and biochemistry of adhesion molecules, the regulation of their functions and their role in cancer and the immune system. Emphasis was given to adhesion proteins in the integrin family because of the widespread distribution of this group of molecules and its important role in essentially all eukaryotic biological systems. The regulation of integrin genes and their expression are discussed in detail, as are specific aspects of the genetics of fibronectin. The molecular basis for the regulation of certain integrins, the function of these proteins in determining cell adhesion, and the consequences of this adhesion for the function of the cells involved are discussed. The role of certain integrins in stimulating signal transduction, the essential involvement of integrins in conditioning the function of T and NK cells function, the heterogeneity of integrins and its biological consequences, and the role of cell adhesion molecules in tumor cells invasion and metastases are all extensively analyzed. New information was presented on the role of CD44 and splice variants in normal differentiation and tumor progression.

The aim of "The Adhesive Interaction of Cells" has been to assemble a series of reviews by leading international experts embracing many of the most important recent developments in this rapidly expanding field. The purpose of all biological research is to understand the form and function of living organisms and, by comprehending the normal, to find explanations and remedies for the abnormal and for disease conditions. The molecules involved in cell adhesion are of fundamental importance to the structure and function of all multicellular organisms. In this book, the contributors focus on the systems of vertebrates, especially mammals, since these are most relevant to human disease. It would have been equally possible to concentrate on developmental processes and adhesion in lower organisms. A major function of adhesion molecules is to bind cells to each other or to the extracellular matrix, but they are much more than "glue". Adhesions in animal tissues must be dynamic-forming, persisting, or declining in regulated fashion- to facilitate the mobility and turnover of tissue cells. Moreover, the majority of adhesion molecules are transmembrane molecules and thus provide links between the cells and their surroundings. This gives rise to another major function of adhesion molecules, the capacity to transduce signals across the hydrophobic barrier imposed by the plasma membrane. Such signal transduction is crucially important to many aspects of cellular function including the regulation of cell motility, gene expression, and differentiation. The work in this book progresses through four sections. Part I discusses the four major families of adhesion molecules themselves, the integrins (Green and Humphries), the cadherins (Stappert and Kemler), the selectins (Tedder et al.) and the immunoglobulin superfamily (Simmons); part 2 considers junctional complexes involved in cell interactions: focal adhesions and adherens junctions (Ben Ze'ev), desmosomes (Garrod et al.), and tight junctions (Citi and Cordenonsi). The signaling role of adhesion molecules is the focus of part 3, through integrins and the extracellular matrix (Edwards and Streuli), through platelet adhesion (Du and Ginsberg), and in the nervous system (Hemperley). In part 4, the aim is to show how adhesive phenomena contribute to important aspects of cell behavior and human health. Leukocyte trafficking (Haskard et al.), cancer metastasis (Marshall and Hart), cell migration (Paleck et al.), and implantation and placentation (Damsky et al.) are the topics considered in depth. The different sections are, of course, not mutually exclusive: it is both undesirable and impossible to separate structure from function when considering cell adhesion. Each chapter has its unique features, but some overlap is both invevitable and valuable since it provides different perspectives on closely related topics. We hope that the whole contributes a valuable and stimulating consideration of this important topic.

Begins a series for clinicians, graduate students, and researchers in academia, regulatory agencies, or industry, offering monographs both on classes of adhesion molecules and on the function of such molecules in particular systems. Here the emphasis is on the clinical evaluation of these molecules, particularly as novel biochemical and genetic markers to define tumor differentiation based on functional and morphological assessment, and also their potential use as targets for biological therapy. Includes ten pages of color plates. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR