In vivo detection of vascular adhesion protein-1 in experimental inflammation

Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is an inflammation-inducible endothelia l glycoprotein which mediates leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions. To s tudy the pathogenetic significance of VAP-1 in inflammatory disorders, an i n vivo immunodetection method was used to detect the regulation of luminall y expressed VAP-1 in experimental skin and joint inflammation in the pig an d dog. Moreover, VAP-1 was studied as a potential target to localize inflam mation by radioimmunoscintigraphy. Up-regulation of VAP-1 in experimental d ermatitis and arthritis could be visualized by specifically targeted immuno scintigraphy. Moreover, the translocation of VAP-1 to the functional positi on on the endothelial surface was only seen in inflamed tissues. These resu lts suggest that VAP-1 is both an optimal candidate for anti-adhesive thera py and a potential target molecule for imaging inflammation.