Description
Basal cell adhesion molecule (BCAM), also known as CD239, and Lutheran blood group glycoprotein (LU) are two alternatively spliced variants of a single pre-mRNA. They are type I membrane proteins of the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) sharing similar structure characteristics except for the length of their cytoplasmic tails (1). BCAM/LU has a wide tissue distribution with a predominant expression in the basal layer of the epithelium and the endothelium of blood vessel walls (2). BCAM and LU share a significant sequence similarity with the CD146 (MUC18) and CD166, and themselves are adhesion molecules that bind laminin with high affinity (3). It has been shown that BCAM expression is upregulated following malignant transformation in some cell types in vivo and in vitro, and BCAM is identified as a marker of epithelial ovarian cancers. In addition, BCAM interacts with integrin in sickle red cells, and thus may potentially play a role in vaso-occlusive episodes (4). It has been demonstrated that expression of BCAM is inversely associated with the susceptibility of cells to cell death by apoptosis (5). Overexpression of the protein or inhibition of BCAM by suitable antibodies does not influence apoptotic processes