KCNK2 was previously shown to regulate immune-cell trafficking into the central nervous system (CNS). Kcnk2-/- mice demonstrated a more severe disease course in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of multiple sclerosis, due to an increased immune-cell migration into the CNS. An upregulation of the cellular adhesion molecules ICAM1 and VCAM1 on brain endothelial cells in K...

asthma is considered as a chronic inflammatory airway disease and defined as increased tracheobronchial responsiveness to variety of stimuli. edema and inflammatory cell infiltration in airway is observed in the asthmatic patients. one of the essential changes in inflammation is adhesion of leukocyte to endothelium and transmigration of leukocytes to the sites of inflammation. unfortunately, li...

Neisseria meningitidis is a facultative pathogen bacterium which is well founded with a number of adhesion molecules to facilitate its colonization in human nasopharynx track. Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of mortality from sever meningococcal disease and septicemia. The Neisseria meningitidis adhesion, NadA, is a trimeric autotransporter adhesion molecule which is involved in cell ad...

Cell adhesion molecules of the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) including the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) and members of the L1 family of neuronal cell adhesion molecules play important functions in the developing nervous system by regulating formation, growth and branching of neurites, and establishment of the synaptic contacts between neurons. In the mature brain, members of IgSF re...

Neural crest cells are highly migratory cells that give rise to many derivatives including peripheral ganglia, craniofacial structures and melanocytes. Neural crest cells migrate along defined pathways to their target sites, interacting with each other and their environment as they migrate. Cell adhesion molecules are critical during this process. In this review we discuss the expression and fu...

The formation of stable cell contacts is of pivotal importance for every metazoan life form. It is therefore not surprising that adhesive molecules appeared early during the evolution of multicellular organisms. The pioneering work of Johannes Holtfreter and others indicated that adhesive molecules, which reside in the plasma membrane on the surface of most cells, are not only important for est...

Recent studies have revealed that signals from neural crest (NC) derivatives regulate the mass, proliferation, and maturation of beta cells in developing fetal pancreas. However, little is known about the cellular distribution of NC derivatives during pancreatic development or the process whereby the developing islets are enclosed. We studied the temporal and spatial distribution of NC derivati...

Notch family members are generally recognized as signaling molecules that control various cellular responses in metazoan organisms. Early fly studies and our mammalian studies demonstrated that Notch family members are also cell adhesion molecules; however, information on the physiological roles of this function and its origin is limited. In this review, we discuss the potential present and anc...