The junctional adhesion molecule-C promotes neutrophil transendothelial migration in vitro and in vivo.

The third member of the family of junctional adhesion molecules (JAMs), JAM-3, also called JAM-C, was recently shown to be a novel counter-receptor on platelets for the leukocyte beta(2)-integrin Mac-1 (alphaMbeta(2), CD11b/CD18). Here, new functional aspects of the role of endothelial cell JAM-C were investigated. Endothelial cells express JAM-C, which is predominantly localized within junctions at interendothelial contacts, since it codistributes with a tight junction component, zonula occludens-1.