Verkarre V, Patey-Mariaud de Serre N, Vazeux R, Teillac-Hamel D, Chretien-Marquet B, Le Bihan C, Leborgne M, Fraitag S, Brousse N
Service d'Anatomie et de Cytologie Pathologiques, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades and Université René Descartes-Paris V EA 219, France.
J Cutan Pathol. 1999 Jan;26(1):17-24. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0560.1999.tb01785.x.
Cellular adhesion molecules are newly identified mediators of angiogenesis. Infantile hemangiomas, characterized in the early stages by a proliferation of poorly differentiated vessels followed in the late stages by a vascular differentiation and regression of the tumor, represent an interesting model to study angiogenesis. We studied by immunohistochemistry the distribution of HLA-DR and three adhesion molecules ICAM-3, E-selectin and VCAM-1 on endothelial cells in different stages of vessel differentiation in infantile hemangiomas. We found high levels of ICAM-3 expression on proliferating vessels, while its expression was low or undetectable on well differentiated vessels. A different set of E-selectin antibodies showed a more heterogenous pattern of distribution and VCAM-1 antigens were found in both proliferating and differentiated vessels. HLA-DR expression on endothelial cells was inversely correlated to the vascular differentiation. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that ICAM-3 plays a role in the early stages of vessel formation. Our results also suggest that variation of E-selectin and HLA-DR expression may be related either to vessel differentiation or may reflect the acquisition of an activated endothelial cell status.
