Leukocyte adhesion--structure and function of human leukocyte beta2-integrins and their cellular ligands

Leukocyte adhesion is of pivotal functional importance and this has resulted in extensive research and rapid development in the field. Leukocyte adhesion involves members of three molecular families: integrins, members of the immunoglobulin superfamily and carbohydrate binding selectins and sialoadhesins. Recently, considerable structural information on leukocyte integrins and members of the immunoglobulin superfamily of adhesion molecules has been obtained. This fact, combined with the identification of several novel adhesion molecules, has increased our understanding of how they function at the molecular level. Furthermore, the important issue of how integrins are activated to become adhesive is rapidly advancing. It is clearly evident that the knowledge accumulated from basic research will increasingly be applied in clinical medicine. In this review we focus on two important families of adhesion molecules, the leukocyte-specific beta2-integrins and their ligands, the intercellular adhesion molecules. Emphasis is put on their structural/functional relationships, their mode of regulation and on novel adhesion molecules recently discovered.