Palaniyar Nades, Clark Howard, Nadesalingam Jeya, Hawgood Samuel, Reid Kenneth B M
MRC Immunochemistry Unit, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, United Kingdom.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Dec;1010:471-5. doi: 10.1196/annals.1299.085.
Collectins, such as surfactant protein D (SP-D), bind apoptotic cells; however, the ligands that they recognize on these cells are unknown. We hypothesized that SP-D binds to the DNA present on these cells. We show that SP-D binds and aggregates mouse alveolar macrophage DNA effectively. Alveolar macrophages of SP-D((-/-)) mice contained more nicked DNA than those of SP-A((-/-)) and wild type mice. Our results also suggest that carbohydrate recognition domains of SP-D may recognize DNA present on the apoptotic cells. Therefore, cell-surface DNA could be a ligand for recognition of apoptotic cells by collectins.
