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.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. G.Swart@ncmls.kun.nl
Guido W M
GW
Swart
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