ICAMs are ligands for LFA-1, a major integrin of mononuclear cells involved in the immune and inflammatory processes. We previously showed that endothelial cell specific molecule-1 (ESM-1) is a proteoglycan secreted by endothelial cells under the control of inflammatory cytokines. Here, we demonstrate that ESM-1 binds directly to LFA-1 onto the cell surface of human blood lymphocytes, monocytes...

LFA-1 (CD18,CD11a) is a cell-adhesion molecule that mediates critical immunological processes. In this paper we report the discovery and characterization of (R)-5-(4-bromobenzyl)-3-(3, 5-dichlorophenyl)-1,5-dimethylimidazolidine-2,4-dione (BIRT 377), an orally bioavailable small molecule that interacts specifically with LFA-1 via noncovalent binding to the CD11a chain and prevents LFA-1 from bi...

The aberrant activity of CD4(+) T cells in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with DNA hypomethylation of the regulatory regions in CD11a and CD70 genes. Our previous studies demonstrated that Gadd45a contributes to the development of SLE by promoting DNA demethylation in CD4(+) T cells. In this study, we identified proteins that bind to Gadd45a in CD4(+) T cells dur...

Dendritic cells (DCs) are most potent antigen presenting cells (APCs) with unique ability to prime effective immune responses. They express higher levels of MHC class II and accesory molecules on their surface, than other professional APCs. The investigations were performed on DCs generated from blood with the use of microbeads magnetically labeled with mouse anti human CD14. Flow cytometry was...

The objective of this study is to evaluate the activity of a novel peptide, i.e., bifunctional peptide inhibitor (BPI), which targets the immunological synapse and inhibits autoimmune responses in an antigen-specific manner. Proteolipid protein (PLP)-BPI was designed by conjugating two peptides, an encephalitogenic epitope of proteolipid protein (PLP(139-151)) and an intercellular adhesion mole...

To study the expression of integrins at the erythroid progenitor level we isolated selected populations of cells from human fetal liver after immunoadherence to anti-beta 2 integrin (CD18) coated plates. These CD18 adherent cells (CD18-Ad), in contrast to CD18 nonadherent cells (CD18-NAd), have a blastlike cell morphology and are highly enriched in all progenitor types (14% to 37% progenitors)....

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to search for activation markers of peripheral leukocytes in experimental preeclampsia in the rat. STUDY DESIGN Experimental preeclampsia was induced in 14-day-pregnant rats by infusion of endotoxin (1.0 microg/kg body weight). For comparison, rats with normal pregnancies that were infused with sodium chloride solution and cyclic rats that were infused with...