MECA-79 antigen

MECA-79 antigen is of interest because of its unique expression at sites of... 

Fig. 6. Structure of 2,3-STF and MECA-79 antigens and their thioether analogues.

L. A. Marcaurelle, M. R. Pratt, and C. R. Bertozzi, Synthesis of thioether-linked analogues of the 2,3-sialyl-TF and MECA-79 antigens Mucin-type glycopeptides associated with cancer and inflammation, ChemBioChem, 2-3 (2003) 224-228. 

Recently, a carbohydrate-binding protein, L-selectin, has been proposed as an adhesion molecule for human embryo implantation (19). L-Selectin is expressed on the surface of lymphocytes and interacts with sulfated and fucosylated carbohydrates expressed on lymph node endothelial cells (20-26). Carbohydrate ligand for L-selectin in the lymph node is closely related to MECA-79 antigen (Fig. 1). In human endometrium, the expression of MECA-79 antigen is hormonal cycle dependent but the presence of an embryo is not required (27). In the mouse, L-selectin nulls reproduce normally (28). Mutant mice lacking sulfotransferases (22,23,29-32) and glycosyltransferases (21,31,32) required for synthesis of L-selectin ligand exhibited no defects in reproduction. Therefore, it is clear that L-selectin is not required for the mouse embryo implantation. It thus appears that L-selectin is uniquely involved in human embryo implantation. 

Middleton J, Americh L, Gayon R, et al. A comparative study of endothelial cell markers expressed in chronically inflamed human tissues MECA-79, Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines, von Willebrand factor, CD31, CD34, CD 105 and CD146. J Pathol 2005 206(3) 260-268. 

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