The LW blood group glycoprotein, ICAM-4, is a member of the intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM) family expressed in erythroid cells. To begin to address the function of this molecule, ligands for ICAM-4 on hemopoietic and nonhemopoietic cell lines were identified. Peptide inhibition studies suggest that adhesion of cell lines to an ICAM-4-Fc construct is mediated by an LDV-inhibitable integrin on hemopoietic cells and an RGD-inhibitable integrin on nonhemopoietic cells. Antibody inhibition studies identified the hemopoietic integrin as ␣ 4  1. Antibody inhibition studies on ␣ 4  1 -negative, nonhemopoietic cell lines suggested that adhesion of these cells is mediated by ␣ V integrins (notably ␣ V  1 and ␣ V  5 ). The structure of ICAM-4 modeled on the crystal structure of ICAM-2 was used to identify surfaceexposed amino acid residues for sitedirected mutagenesis. Neither an unusual LETS nor an LDV motif in the first domain of ICAM-4 was critical for integrin binding. ICAM-4 is the first ICAM family member shown to be a ligand for integrins other than those of the  2 family, and the data suggest that ICAM-4 has a novel integrin-binding site(s). These findings suggest a role for ICAM-4 in normal erythropoiesis and may also be relevant to the adhesive interactions of sickle cells. (
IntroductionKnowledge of cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions in bone marrow is essential for an understanding of the formation of blood cells and their migration into the peripheral circulation. Such interactions are also relevant to the biology of diseases like sickle cell disease and malaria where adhesive interactions involving red cells and damaged endothelium are crucial features of the pathology. [1][2][3] These adhesive interactions frequently involve molecules belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) of proteins and the family of proteins known as integrins. Integrins are heterodimers composed of 2 noncovalently associated transmembrane subunits denoted "␣" and "." Eight different  subunits combine in a restricted manner with 18 ␣ subunits to form some 22 different integrins. Beta subunits complex with several different ␣ subunits, while most ␣ subunits (with the exception of ␣ V , ␣ 4 , and ␣ 6 ) combine with only one  subunit. 4 The LW blood group glycoprotein, or ICAM-4, is a member of the IgSF subfamily known as intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAMs). It has 2 predicted IgSF I-set domains, [5][6][7] and within the subfamily it is most similar to ICAM-2. ICAM-4 has been found expressed only on erythroid cells and weakly in placenta. 8,9 ICAM-1, -2, and -3 function in inflammation and immune responses, 10 but no function for ICAM-4 has been defined.The ICAMs are ligands for  2 integrins, and all family members, including ICAM-4, are reported to bind ␣ L  2 . [10][11][12][13] ICAM-1 and ICAM-4 are also ligands for ␣ M  2 , 10,11 while the preferred ligand for ICAM-3 is ␣ D  2 . 14 Unlike ICAM-1, -2, -3, -5, which have the ␣ L  2 -binding motif (L/I)ET(P/S)L (Figure 1), ICAM-4 has th...