Evidence of a functional role for interaction between ICAM-1 and nonmuscle alpha-actinins in leukocyte diapedesis.

ICAM-1 is involved in both adhesion and extravasation of leukocytes to endothelium during inflammation. It has been shown that the ICAM-1 cytoplasmic domain is important for transendothelial migration of leukocytes but the precise molecular mechanisms involving the intracytoplasmic portion of ICAM-1 is not known. To characterize precisely the molecular scaffolding associated with ICAM-1, we have used the yeast two-hybrid system, and we have identified six different proteins interacting with the ICAM-1 cytoplasmic domain.

T lymphocytes infiltrating the liver during chronic hepatitis C infection express a broad range of T-cell receptor beta chain diversity.

Background/aims: During viral chronic hepatitis C (CHC), the intra-hepatic lymphocyte infiltrate is mainly composed of T lymphocytes expressing alphabeta T-cell receptors (TCR). Since little is known about the TCRalphabeta diversity of intra-hepatic T lymphocytes (IHL), we evaluated the IHL repertoire from CHC patients (n=8) as compared to healthy subjects (n=4), total peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and purified peripheral and intra-hepatic CD8(+) cells (n=2).

Methods: The diversity of TCRalphabeta receptors was evaluated by determining the size and the sequence of the TCRbeta chain complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3).