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Background: Migration of mature and immature leukocytes in response to chemokines is not only essential during inflammation and host defense, but also during development of the hematopoietic system. Many molecules implicated in migratory polarity show uniform cellular distribution under non-activated conditions, but acquire a polarized localization upon exposure to migratory cues.
Methodology/Principal Findings: Here, we present evidence that raft-associated endocytic proteins (flotillins) are preassembled in lymphoid, myeloid and primitive hematopoietic cells and accumulate in the uropod during migration. Furthermore, flotillins display a polarized distribution during immunological synapse formation. Employing the membrane lipid-order sensitive probe Laurdan, we show that flotillin accumulation in the immunological synapse is concomittant with membrane ordering in these regions.
Conclusions: Together with the observation that flotillin polarization does not occur in other polarized cell types such as polarized epithelial cells, our results suggest a specific role for flotillins in hematopoietic cell polarization. Based on our results, we propose that in hematopoietic cells, flotillins provide intrinsic cues that govern segregation of certain microdomain-associated molecules during immune cell polarization.
A soluble form of the complement receptor CD21 (sCD21) is shed from the lymphocyte surface. The sCD21 is able to bind all known ligands such as CD23, sCD23, Epstein-Barr virus and C3d in immune complexes. Here, we show the serum levels of sCD21 in sera the of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) patients. Antiphospholipid syndrome is an autoimmune disorder in which autoantibodies cause heart attack, stroke and miscarriage. Antiphospholipid syndrome may appear as primary or in association with systemic lupus erythromatosus (SLE) and other autoimmune diseases. Here, we ask whether APS patients have different sCD21 titers compared to healthy persons and whether sCD21 levels correlate with the presence of anti-β2-GPI autoantibodies. We show that autoimmune APS patients have significantly reduced amounts of sCD21 in their sera, irrespective of the presence of anti-β2-GPI autoantibodies. In our APS patients cohort additional SLE, vasculities, DVT (deep vein thrombosis), fetal loss or thrombosis did not correlate to the reduced level of sCD21.