EXPRESSION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A VERY-LATE ANTIGEN-4 (ALPHA-4-BETA-1) INTEGRIN-BINDING FRAGMENT OF VASCULAR CELL-ADHESION MOLECULE-1

We have used an Escherichia coli expression system to produce forms of vascular cell-adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) containing the first two a nd three supposed immunoglobulin-like domains. A form consisting of th e first two domains of VCAM-1 is shown to promote very-late antigen-4- dependent spreading of a melanoma cell line comparable to that found f or the equivalent region in the full seven-domain form. Preliminary st ructural analysis by CD and NMR is consistent with an immunoglobulin f old which is predicted from sequence comparison studies.