|
||
Original Article |
Correspondence to: Mary Carrington, P.O. Box B, NCI-FCRDC, Frederick, MD 21702. Tel:301-846-1390 Fax:301-846-1909 E-mail:carringt{at}mail.ncifcrf.gov.
The discovery of dendritic cell (DC)-specific intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-3grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN) as a DC-specific ICAM-3 binding receptor that enhances HIV-1 infection of T cells in trans has indicated a potentially important role for adhesion molecules in AIDS pathogenesis. A related molecule called DC-SIGNR exhibits 77% amino acid sequence identity with DC-SIGN. The DC-SIGN and DC-SIGNR genes map within a 30-kb region on chromosome 19p13.2-3. Their strong homology and close physical location indicate a recent duplication of the original gene. Messenger RNA and protein expression patterns demonstrate that the DC-SIGNrelated molecule is highly expressed on liver sinusoidal cells and in the lymph node but not on DCs, in contrast to DC-SIGN. Therefore, we suggest that a more appropriate name for the DC-SIGNrelated molecule is L-SIGN, liver/lymph nodespecific ICAM-3grabbing nonintegrin. We show that in the liver, L-SIGN is expressed by sinusoidal endothelial cells. Functional studies indicate that L-SIGN behaves similarly to DC-SIGN in that it has a high affinity for ICAM-3, captures HIV-1 through gp120 binding, and enhances HIV-1 infection of T cells in trans. We propose that L-SIGN may play an important role in the interaction between liver sinusoidal endothelium and trafficking lymphocytes, as well as function in the pathogenesis of HIV-1.
Key Words: L-SIGN, adhesion receptor, chromosome 19p13.2-3, ICAM-3, HIV-1 gp120
This article has been cited by other articles:
| TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|