Antibodies against human neutrophil LECAM-1 (LAM-1/Leu-8/DREG-56 antigen) and endothelial cell ELAM-1 inhibit a common CD18-independent adhesion pathway in vitro.

Neutrophil adhesion to interleukin-1 (IL-1)-stimulated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) involves the CD18 family of leukocyte integrins (lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 [LFA-1], Mac-1, and p150,95) and LECAM-1 (DREG-56/LEU-8/LAM-1 antigen) on neutrophils and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (ELAM-1) on the endothelium. In this study, we compare CD18-independent adhesion pathways mediated by neutrophil LECAM-1 and endothelial ELAM-1 and find that these two pathways overlap in a variety of assays: (1) anti-LECAM-1 and anti-ELAM-1 monoclonal antibody (MoAb) inhibit neutrophil binding to HUVEC, and the inhibitory effect is not additive; (2) anti-LECAM-1 MoAb, like anti-ELAM-1 MoAb, inhibits neutrophil binding to HUVEC stimulated for 3 hours with IL-1, but not to HUVEC stimulated for 8 hours, by which time ELAM-1 expression is downregulated; (3) anti-ELAM-1 MoAb has no effect on transendothelial migration, a CD18-dependent, LECAM-1-independent neutrophil function. Interestingly, anti-ELAM MoAb has a reduced but significant inhibitory effect on the adhesion of activated neutrophils that have shed their cell-surface LECAM-1. We also show that neutrophil binding to ELAM-1-transfected L cells is inhibited not only by anti-ELAM-1 but also by anti-LECAM-1 MoAb. These results suggest that LECAM-1 and ELAM-1 can operate in the same adhesion pathway, possibly as a receptor-counterreceptor pair. LECAM-1 and ELAM-1 are likely to interact with other ligands as well, perhaps through carbohydrate determinants that modify more than one glycoprotein.