Glycosylation-dependent Cell Adhesion Molecule 1: A Novel Mucin-like Adhesion Ligand for L-Selectin
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
Excerpt
One of the most extraordinary aspects of the vertebrate immune system is the ability of circulating T and B lymphocytes to traffic efficiently through the peripheral lymphoid organs (Berg et al. 1989; Rosen 1989; Yednock and Rosen 1989; Butcher 1990). This mechanism evolved to ensure that circulating lymphocytes with diverse antigenic specificities would encounter foreign antigens that were sequestered by the afferent vessels of the lymphatic system into the lymph nodes. These encounters benefited the organism by allowing an enhanced probability of recognition of extrinsic antigens by the manifold antigen receptors (i.e., T-cell receptors and surface immunoglobulins) found on the surface of the circulating immune cells. Immune cells that were stimulated by antigens presented by antigen-presenting cells in the peripheral lymphoid organs would mount appropriate antibody- and cell-mediated responses, whereas immune cells that did not encounter an antigen that satisfied their antigenic specificities would flow back into the vascular system...
