BACKGROUND Platelet activation by collagen depends on signals transduced by the glycoprotein (GP)VI-Fc receptor (FcR)γ-chain collagen receptor complex, which involves recruitment of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) to phosphorylated tyrosines in the linker for activation of T cells (LAT). An interaction between the p85 regulatory subunit of PI3K and the scaffolding molecule Grb-2-associated...

Antibody conjugates directed against intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) or platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM-1) have formed the basis for drug delivery vehicles that are specifically recognized and internalized by endothelial cells. There is increasing evidence that ICAM-1 and PECAM-1 may also play a role in cell scavenger functions and pathogen entry. To define the mecha...

Rationale: Hemodynamic forces caused by the altered blood flow in response to an occlusion lead to the induction of collateral remodeling and arteriogenesis. Previous work showed that platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM)-1 is a component of a mechanosensory complex that mediates endothelial cell responses to shear stress. Objective: We hypothesized that PECAM-1 plays an important...

The terminal event in the establishment of the haemochorial placenta in the human is the invasion of trophoblasts into the maternal vessels, a process in which trophoblasts interact directly with the vascular endothelium and degrade the vascular basement membrane and the tunica elastica of the vessels. To further understand this heterotypic cellular interaction, we investigated the expression b...

PECAM-1 (CD31) is an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM)-containing surface glycoprotein expressed on various hematopoietic cells as well as on endothelial cells. PECAM-1 has been shown to play roles in regulation of adhesion, migration and apoptosis. The BCR/ABL fusion tyrosine kinase is expressed in chronic myeloid leukemia and...

Excessive ethanol consumption is one of the main causes of liver fibrosis. However, direct effects of ethanol exposure on endothelial cells and their contribution to fibrogenesis and metastasis were not investigated. Therefore we analysed whether ethanol directly affects endothelial cells and if this plays a role during fibrogenesis and metastasis in the liver. Murine and human endothelial cell...

Oxidative stress underlies diverse vascular diseases, but its management remains elusive, in part because of our inability to selectively detoxify reactive oxygen species (ROS) in pathological sites and our limited understanding which species need to be eliminated. The antioxidant enzymes (AOEs) superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (which decompose and H(2)O(2), respectively), conjugated wit...