Previous studies have suggested that PECAM-1 mediates cellular interactions via both homophilic and heterophilic adhesive mechanisms. Cell surface glycoaminoglycans have been implicated as one of the heterophilic ligands for PECAM-1. To determine whether PECAM-1 is capable of interacting directly with glycosaminoglycans, we examined the adhesive properties of multiple monovalent and multivalent forms of this adhesion molecule. We found that the binding of a bivalent PECAM-1/IgG chimeric protein or multivalent PECAM-1-containing proteoliposomes to multiple different cell lines was 1) strictly dependent upon cell surface expression of PECAM-1 and 2) unaffected by the presence of excess heparin or heparan sulfate. The extracellular domain of PECAM-1 failed to interact specifically with heparinSepharose, 3 H-labeled heparin, or a heparin-bovine serum albumin conjugate. In addition, an amino acid sequence motif inadvertently created by the juxtaposition of PECAM-1 and IgG sequences within the hinge region of certain PECAM-1/IgG chimeric constructs was found to confer glycosaminoglycan binding properties not normally present within the extracellular domain of the native molecule. Together, these data suggest that the mechanism by which heparin is able to affect PECAM-1-dependent cell-cell adhesion is indirect and occurs via inhibition of events that occur downstream from PECAM-1 engagement.PECAM-1 (CD31) is a 130-kDa member of the Ig gene superfamily that is constitutively expressed on the surface of circulating platelets, monocytes, neutrophils, and selected T cell subsets. It is also present at relatively high concentration at the cell junctions of all continuous endothelium, both in vivo and in cell culture (for a recent review on the biology of PECAM-1, see Ref. 1). Because of its presence on these vascular cells, PECAM-1 has been implicated in mediating a number of cellular interactions, most notably those that take place between leukocytes and the vessel wall during the process of transendothelial migration (2-9) and between adjacent endothelial cells during the process of angiogenesis (10 -12).A number of different cell surface components have been implicated as counterreceptors or cellular targets for PECAM-1. Albelda et al. (13) found that PECAM-1 became concentrated at cell-cell borders only if both cells expressed PECAM-1, and they were the first to propose, based on this observation, that PECAM-1-mediated cellular interactions might operate homophilically, i.e. via PECAM-1/PECAM-1 intermolecular contacts. In support of this hypothesis, PECAM-1-containing proteoliposomes were recently shown to be able to self-associate in a concentration-dependent, divalent cationindependent, manner (14), providing direct experimental support that PECAM-1 is capable of interacting with itself. Homophilic binding activity requires amino-terminal Ig homology domains 1 and 2 (14, 15), and specific residues within Ig domain 1 that participate in PECAM-1/PECAM-1 interactions have recently been identified by Newton et al. (16). ...

We studied hematopoietic progenitors from fetal baboon blood, marrow, and liver at four time points (125, 140, 160, and 175 days) during the third trimester (gestation approximately 180 days) to determine if fetal baboons might be an appropriate model for in utero gene therapy of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Cells were studied for expression of CD34, CD33, CD38, and HLA-DR, for progenitor content in colony-forming cell assays, and for susceptibility of CD34+ progenitors to retrovirus-mediated gene transfer. Throughout the third trimester, the frequency of CD34+ progenitors in blood and marrow appears to remain unchanged at approximately 0.6 and 5.0%, respectively. In liver, progenitors progressively decrease to undetectable levels by day 175. The proportion of fetal baboon bone marrow and liver CD34+ cells expressing CD38 and HLA-DR appears to increase with increasing fetal age, similar to changes reported for human cord blood CD34+ cells. In fetal baboon blood the proportion of CD34+ cells expressing CD33 appears to decrease with increasing gestational age, also similar to changes reported for human cord blood cells. Progenitors from human cord blood and baboon fetal tissues were similarly susceptible to transduction by the gibbon ape leukemia pseudotyped retroviral vector LAPSN(PG13) containing the genes for human placental alkaline phosphatase (AP) and the bacterial neomycin phosphotransferase (neo). Fetal baboon and human hematopoietic progenitor cells undergo similar phenotypic changes during the third trimester of fetal development and are similarly susceptible to retrovirus-mediated gene transfer. The fetal baboon may be a model in which approaches to mobilization and gene transfer into fetal HSCs can be studied.