Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (CD166/ALCAM): developmental and mechanistic aspects of cell clustering and cell migration.
Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM/CD166) is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and belongs to a recent subgroup with five extracellular immunoglobulin-like domains (VVC2C2C2). ALCAM mediates both heterophilic (ALCAM-CD6) and homophilic (ALCAM-ALCAM) cell-cell interactions. While expressed in a wide variety of tissues, ALCAM is usually restricted to subsets of cells involved in dynamic growth and/or migration, including neural development, branching organ development, hematopoiesis, immune response and tumor progression. Recent structure-function analyses of ALCAM hint at how its cytoskeletal anchoring and the integrity of the extracellular immunoglobulin-like domains may regulate complex cellular properties in regard to cell adhesion, growth and migration. Accumulating evidence suggests that ALCAM expression may reflect the onset of a cellular program for homeostatic control of growth saturation, which induces either growth arrest or cell migration when the upper limits are exceeded.
Swart
Guido W M
GW
Department of Biochemistry, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. G.Swart@ncmls.kun.nl
D020410:Activated-Leukocyte Cell Adhesion Molecule / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015394:Molecular Structure; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000502:physiology
D020410:Activated-Leukocyte Cell Adhesion Molecule