Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are a family of closely related cell surface glycoproteins involved in cell-cell interactions during growth and are thought to play important, yet separate, roles in embryogenesis and development. The intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), also referred to as CD54, is an integral membrane protein of the immunoglobulin superfamily and recognizes the beta2alpha1 and beta2alphaM Integrins. ICAM-2 functions as a ligand for lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) and is involved in leukocyte adhesion. ICAM-3 is highly expressed on the surface of human eosinophils and, when bound to ligand, may inhibit eosinophil inflammatory responses and survival. ICAM-4, also known as LW glycoprotein, interacts with Integrins alphaLbeta2, alphaMbeta2, alpha4beta1, the alphaV family and alphaIIbbeta3, and selective binding to different integrins may be relevant to the pathology in a number of red blood cell associated diseases. Lastly, ICAM-5, expressed on telencephalic neurons, binds CD11a/CD18 and thus may act as an adhesion molecule for leukocyte binding in the central nervous system.
