ICAM-5 Background Information
Cell adhesion molecules are a family of closely related cell surface glycoproteins involved in cell-cell interactions during growth and are thought to play important, yet separate, roles in embryogenesis and development (1,2). The intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), also referred to as CD54, is an integral membrane protein of the immunoglobulin superfamily and recognizes the ∫2å1 and ∫2åM integrins (3). ICAM-2 functions as a ligand for lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) and is involved in leukocyte adhesion (4). ICAM-3 is highly expressed on the surface of human eosinophils, and when bound to ligand may inhibit eosinophil inflammatory responses and survival (5). ICAM-4, also known as LW glycoprotein, interacts with the integrins åL∫2, åM∫2, å4∫1, the åV family and åIIb∫3, and selective binding to different integrins may be relevant to the pathology in a number of red blood cell associated diseases (6). Lastly, ICAM-5, expressed on telencephalic neurons, binds CD11 a/CD18 and thus may act as an adhesion molecule for leukocyte binding in the central nervous system (7).
