Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2026
Isolation and In Vitro Culture of Murine and Human Alveolar Macrophages
Published on: April 20, 2018
A rapid semiautomatical enzyme linked immunoassay identifying intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) on the
Insights
Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is elevated on alveolar macrophages in sarcoidosis patients but not pneumonia patients. Macrophages from healthy individuals show cytokine-induced ICAM-1, unlike patient macrophages.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
- Pulmonary Medicine
Background:
- Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is a key cytokine-inducible molecule in leukocyte migration during inflammation.
- Alveolar macrophages play a critical role in pulmonary inflammatory responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a rapid sandwich immunoenzymometric assay for semiquantitative ICAM-1 detection on alveolar macrophages.
- To compare ICAM-1 expression in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis and bacterial pneumonia versus healthy controls.
- To investigate the responsiveness of alveolar macrophages to cytokine stimulation.
Main Methods:
- A sandwich immunoenzymometric assay was developed for ICAM-1 detection.
- Alveolar macrophages were analyzed from patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis (n=12), bacterial pneumonia (n=11), and healthy volunteers (n=6).
- Immunocytochemical staining was used for comparison; cytokine stimulation (TNF-alpha, interferon-gamma) was performed.
Main Results:
- Significantly elevated ICAM-1 expression was found on alveolar macrophages from sarcoidosis patients compared to controls (0.76 EU vs. 0.44 EU, p < 0.01).
- ICAM-1 expression was not elevated in pneumonia patients (0.48 EU).
- Control alveolar macrophages showed significant ICAM-1 induction upon stimulation with TNF-alpha or interferon-gamma, while patient macrophages did not respond.
Conclusions:
- Alveolar macrophage ICAM-1 is significantly upregulated in pulmonary sarcoidosis.
- The lack of cytokine response in patient macrophages suggests altered inflammatory signaling.
- ICAM-1 expression in sarcoidosis correlates with spontaneous TNF-alpha release.
Abstract:
Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), a member of the immunoglobulin gene superfamily, is a cytokine-inducible adhesion molecule, which plays a central role in leukocyte migration into sites of acute or chronic inflammation. In this article we describe a sandwich immunoenzymometric method which allows rapid, semiquantitative (in "enzyme immunoassay units", EU) identification of ICAM-1 on the surface of alveolar macrophages. We evaluated this method in two groups of patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis (n = 12) or bacterial pneumonia (n = 11) and a group of healthy volunteers (n = 6), comparing the results with those obtained by immunocytochemical staining. ICAM-1 expression on the sarcoid alveolar macrophages surface was significantly elevated, as compared with control alveolar macrophages (0.76 EU +/- 0.27 vs. 0.44 EU +/- 0.12, p < 0.01). ICAM-1 expression on the surface of alveolar macrophages from patients with pneumonia was not elevated (0.48 EU +/- 0.35). Stimulation with tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) or interferon-gamma (100 kU/l) led to a significant induction of ICAM-1 on the surface of control alveolar macrophages (0.76 EU +/- 0.18, p < 0.005 for TNF-alpha, 0.64 EU +/- 0.10, p < 0.005 for interferon-gamma), whereas alveolar macrophages from both patient groups did not respond to cytokines even at high dosages. ICAM-1 expression on the surface of alveolar macrophages from patients with sarcoidosis correlated with the spontaneous release of TNF-alpha by macrophages (R = 0.77, p < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:17Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...
01:31Immunoglobulin-like Cell Adhesion Molecules
Ig-CAMs exhibit either homophilic binding (to other Ig-CAMs) or heterophilic binding (to other ligands such as integrins). While most Ig-CAMs...