Timothy Springer, with colleagues Michael L. Dustin and Charles A. Dinarello, identifies and characterizes
adhesion molecules, a class of
cell surface proteins that function in the interactions of immune
cells with other
cells, including antigen - specific recognition and
cell trafficking:
integrin LFA - 1 involved in cytoskeleton and signaling, and intracellular
adhesion molecules (ICAMs), which are binding partners (ligands) for LFA - 1 and are increased in inflammatory and autoimmune disease.