Carbohydrate binding specificities, adhesion

Potential Roles of the Carbohydrate Binding Specificities in Adhesion to Target Cells.. 132... 

Abstract Persistent colonization of the human stomach by Helicobacter pylori is a risk factor for the development of peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. Adhesion of microbes to the target tissue is an important determinant for successful initiation, establishment and maintenance of infection, and a variety of different candidate carbohydrate receptors for H. pylori have been identified. Here the different the binding specifities, and their potential role in adhesion to human gastric epithelium are described. Finally, recent findings on the roles of sialic acid binding SabA adhesin in interactions with human neutrophils and erythrocytes are discussed. 

The recruitment of blood-borne cells to evolving atherosclerotic lesions appears to be specific for monocytes and requires the inducement of specific adhesion molecules on both the endothelial cell surface and the recruited monocytes. The adhesion process appears to be a multistep phenomenon. In the initial stages E- or P-selectin expressed by stimulated endothelial cells binds to carbohydrates borne by surface molecules on monocytes. Expression of P-selectin on vascular endothelial cells slows white blood cells and causes them to roll along the endothelial surface. Other cell adhesion molecules, including ICAM-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1, then latch onto and stop the white blood cells completely, prior to their migration out of the blood vessel and into the target tissue. 

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