LEUKOCYTE ADHESION - STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF HUMAN-LEUKOCYTE BETA(2)-INTEGRINS AND THEIR CELLULAR LIGANDS

Leukocyte adhesion is of pivotal functional importance and this has re sulted in extensive research and rapid develoment in the field, Leukoc yte adhesion involves members of three molecular families: integrins, members of the immunoglobulin superfamily and carbohydrate binding sel ectins and sialoadhesins. Recently, considerable structural informatio n on leukocyte integrins and members of the immunoglobulin superfamily of adhesion molecules has been obtained. This fact, combined with the identification of several novel adhesion molecules, has increased our understanding of how they function at the molecular level. Further mo re, the important issue of how integrins are activated to become adhes ive is rapidly advancing. It is clearly evident that the knowledge acc umulated from basic research will increasingly be applied in clinical medicine. In this review we focus on two important families of adhesio n molecules, the leukocyte-specific beta(2)-integrins and their ligand s, the intercellular adhesion molecules. Emphasis is put on their stru ctural/functional relationships, their mode of regulation and on novel adhesion molecules recently discovered.