Expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1, CD54) in colonic epithelial cells

Abstract

The expression of intercellular adhesionmolecule-I (ICAM-1, CD54) was examined in16 surgically removed colonic tumours and twocolonic carcinoma cell lines. Immunohistochemistryshowed a varying percentage ofICAM-1 positive colonic carcinoma cells in9/16 tissue specimens, while normal colonictissue (apart from a slight reactivity of endothelialcells) was not stained. The presence ofthe ICAM-1 niolecule on the cell surface andthe expression ofICAM-1 mRNA were investigatedfor two colonic carcinoma cell lines. Itwas possible to enhance the expression ofICAM-1 considerably by incubating the cellsin the presence of inflammatory cytokines inHT-29 and CaCo-2 cells. The responsivenessto either interferon α (IFN-α), tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α), or interleukin ,1β (IL-1β)treatment was different in each cell line.Interestingly, ICAM-1 is shed by colonic carcinomacells because soluble sICAM-1 wasdetected in the cell culture supernatants. Incomparison with normal serum samples, themean value of sICAM-1 in 63 samples ofpatients with colonic carcinoma and in 20cases of active inflammatory bowel disease israised about twofold. It remains to be clarifiedwhat part both forms of ICAM-1 play in thecourse of colonic cancer, ulcerative colitis,and Crohn's disease.