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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Assay of Adhesion Under Shear Stress for the Study of T Lymphocyte-Adhesion Molecule Interactions
Published on: June 29, 2016
Circulating intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) as an early and sensitive marker for virus-induced T cell
J P Christensen1, J Johansen, O Marker
1Institute of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Abstract:
The effect of systemic virus infection on the level of circulating ICAM-1 (cICAM-1) in serum, and the role of virus-activated T cells in this context, were studied using the murine lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection as primary model system. A marked virus-induced elevation in cICAM-1 in serum was revealed, the presence of which coincided with the phase of virus-induced T cell activation. However, high levels of cICAM-1 in serum were observed well before maximal T cell activation could be demonstrated. No increase in cICAM-1 was observed in the serum of infected T cell-deficient nude mice, clearly demonstrating that T cells were mandatory. Analysis of MHC class I and MHC class II-deficient mice revealed that either CD4+ or CD8+ T cells alone are sufficient, despite a markedly reduced inflammatory exudate in the former animals. These results indicate that virus-activated T cells induce shedding of ICAM-1 into the circulation, and this parameter may be used as an early and sensitive marker for immune activation.
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