Immunohistochemical localization of cellCAM 105 in rat tissues: appearance in epithelia, platelets, and granulocytes.

CellCAM 105 is an integral membrane glycoprotein, with apparent Mr 105,000, which has been purified from rat liver plasma membranes. It consists of two structurally similar, highly glycosylated polypeptide chains and is involved in cell-cell adhesion of adult rat hepatocytes in vitro. In this communication we report on the distribution and cell surface location of cellCAM 105 in rat tissues, obtained by using highly sensitive immunodetection systems based on complex formation between biotinylated antibodies, biotinylated peroxidase and avidin, or on antibodies coupled to alkaline phosphatase. CellCAM was found in many organs and organ systems, including liver, kidney, blood, blood vessels, glands, respiratory system, and gastrointestinal tract. It was mainly localized to epithelial structures but showed a varying cell surface distribution. In some cell types it was predominantly localized to cell-cell contact areas. In other cell types the highest concentrations were seen in brush-border areas containing densely packed microvilli. In addition to epithelial structures, cellCAM 105 was found in rat platelets, where it became strongly expressed on the cell surfaces after activation with ADP or collagen, suggesting that it might be involved in platelet adhesion and/or aggregation mechanisms. Granulocytes also contained cellCAM 105. By SDS-PAGE/immunoblotting, significant differences were found in the apparent Mr values of cellCAM 105 in different tissues. The collected data suggest that cellCAM 105 participates in several different cell surface membrane interactions, of which the common denominator might be membrane-membrane binding.