Divergent patterns of ELAM-1, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 expression on cytomegalovirus-infected endothelial cells.

Endothelial cells, one of several in vivo host cells for cytomegalovirus (CMV), participate in solid organ allograft rejection in part through the expression of leukocyte adhesion molecules. The hypothesis that CMV infection alters the constitutive and induced expression of ELAM-1, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 on infected human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was examined. HUVECs were infected with an endothelial cell-propagated strain of CMV (VHL/E) for various periods, treated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha), and examined by flow cytometry or immunohistochemically dual-labeled with monoclonal antibodies to CMV immediate early nuclear protein and ELAM-1, ICAM-1, or VCAM-1. Neither ELAM-1 nor VCAM-1 was induced on CMV-infected HUVECs, and treatment with TNF alpha treatment did not result in their induction. In contrast, ICAM-1 was induced on infected HUVECs by 24 hr postinfection. Endothelial ICAM-1 induction may represent a mechanism by which CMV infection exacerbates the recipient cellular immune response to allografts.