Targeted gene deletion demonstrates that the cell adhesion molecule ICAM-4 is critical for erythroblastic island formation

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Abstract
Erythroid progenitors differentiate in erythroblastic islands, bone marrow niches composed of erythroblasts surrounding a central macrophage. Evidence suggests that within islands adhesive interactions regulate erythropoiesis and apoptosis. We are exploring whether erythroid intercellular adhesion molecule 4 (ICAM-4), an immunoglobulin superfamily member, participates in island formation. Earlier, we identified αV integrins as ICAM-4 counterreceptors. Because macrophages express αV, ICAM-4 potentially mediates island attachments. To test this, we generated ICAM-4 knock-out mice and developed quantitative, live cell techniques for harvesting intact islands and for re-forming islands in vitro. We observed a 47% decrease in islands reconstituted from ICAM-4 null marrow compared to wild-type marrow. We also found a striking decrease in islands formed in vivo in knock-out mice. Further, peptides that block ICAM-4/αV adhesion produced a 53% to 57% decrease in reconstituted islands, strongly suggesting that ICAM-4 binding to macrophage αV functions in island integrity. Importantly, we documented that αV integrin is expressed in macrophages isolated from erythroblastic islands. Collectively, these data provide convincing evidence that ICAM-4 is critical in erythroblastic island formation via ICAM-4/αV adhesion and also demonstrate that the novel experimental strategies we developed will be valuable in exploring molecular mechanisms of erythroblastic island formation and their functional role in regulating erythropoiesis.