ADHESION MOLECULES AND ALLERGIC INFLAMMATORY REACTION

Regardless of its site of expression, the allergic inflammatory reacti on always presents constant features, resulting from an interaction be tween structural cells and circulating cells, mediated by classical me diators, cytokines but also adhesion molecules. There are three famili es of adhesion molecules: superfamily of immunoglobulins, selectins, a nd integrins, and they act in pairs, with, on the one hand, molecules present on the surface of circulating leukocytes and, on the other han d, molecules present on the endothelium and epithelium. The activation of these mediators is characterized by highly specific binding, fine regulation of cellular interactions, and selective attraction of the v arious cell populations, with a specific expression kinetic for each o f these molecules. The cooperation between vascular endothelium and in flammatory infiltrate, illustrated by four experimental models, and th e clinical and experimental aspects of the cooperation between bronchi al (or nasal) epithelium and inflammatory cells are then discussed.