Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), 3 a cell adhesion molecule expressed in various cell types, plays a key role in mediating the inflammatory and immune responses (1). It functions as a co-stimulatory molecule during antigen presentation to T cells. ICAM-1 interaction with leukocyte integrins LFA-1 and Mac-1 promotes firm adhesion of leukocytes and their transmigration to the sites of inflammation (1-3). ICAM-1 consists of five Ig-like domains, a single transmembrane domain, and a short cytoplasmic tail. ICAM-1 is shed as soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) in blood and other biological fluids. Elevated plasma levels of sICAM-1 have been reported in inflammatory, neoplastic, autoimmune, and vascular diseases (4), and sICAM-1 is utilized as a marker of inflammation and a predictor of prognosis (5, 6). Multiple signaling pathways regulate the shedding of ICAM-1 in 293 cells transfected with ICAM-1 (293 ICAM-1 ), including mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (7). How these signaling cascades mediate ICAM-1 release is currently unknown. Previous reports indicate that ICAM-1 is a substrate for matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-9 (8) as well as human leukocyte elastase and cathepsin G (9, 10).Ectodomain shedding is an important regulatory mechanism in the function of membrane-bound cell-surface molecules (reviewed in Refs. 11 and 12). Cytokines and their receptors, growth factors, ectoenzymes, adhesion molecules, and proteoglycans undergo shedding (13-16). The most widely studied inducer of shedding is phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), which activates protein kinase C (16, 18 -20). Calcium ionophores, cytokines, growth factors, and chemotactic peptides also induce shedding (22). The majority of the shedding events are mediated by the zinc-dependent metalloproteinases of the metzincin family, which includes MMPs and proteases containing a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) domain. Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) regulate the activity of MMPs and some ADAMs. There are four distinct TIMPs. TIMP-1-4 inhibit a wide range of MMPs, whereas TIMP-3 is also an inhibitor of ADAM-17. ADAM-10 is inhibited by TIMP-1 and -3, whereas ADAM-8 and -9 are very poorly inhibited by, and are unlikely to be physiologically regulated by, TIMPs. To date, no ADAM has been shown to be inhibited by TIMP-2. ADAMs are type I transmembrane glycoproteins; and in addition to their proteolytic activity, they also mediate cell adhesion. Tumor necrosis factor-␣ (TNF␣)-converting enzyme (TACE) plays a central role in ectodomain shedding (16). Cell lines derived from TACE-deficient mice (TACE Ϫ/Ϫ ) verify that TACE is involved in the PMA-induced shedding of a number of structurally and functionally diverse proteins, including pro-TNF␣, L-selectin, -amyloid precursor protein, transforming growth factor-␣, heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (EGF), and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) (14, 17-21), suggesting a common shedding mechanism regulated by a protein kinase C-TACE axis. Mice lacking T...