Soluble adhesion molecules in type 1 diabetes mellitus

Adhesion molecules play an important role during leukocyte emgration from blood vessels. Furthermore, adhesion molecules are involved in the regulation of the immune system. In addition to membrane-bound adhesion molecules soluble forms have been detected in human serum. During the last few years we have analysed the role of adhesion molecules during the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. This review describes the results of studies on membrane-bound and soluble adhesion molecules in humans and the model of the NOD mouse. Based on these results different adhesion molecule-specific immunotherapies are presented for the prevention of type 1 diabetes and its preclinical stages.