Brief Definit ive Report

In the presence of the inflammatory cytokine TNF, endothelial cells (ECs) express adhesion molecules that facilitate recruitment of leuko-cytes to damaged tissues (Pober and Sessa, 2007). Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) is a TNF-inducible adhesion molecule that facilitates capture of leukocytes expressing VCAM-1 counter-receptors, 41 and 47 integrins (Cook-Mills et al., 2011). VCAM-1 is expressed in inflammatory disorders, and its blockade reduces disease in models of multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, and asthma (Cook-Mills et al., 2011). Thus, the abil-ity to modulate VCAM-1 expression may be of therapeutic interest. TNF activates signaling cascades including the MAP kinase (p38, JNK1/2, and ERK1/2) and NF-B pathways (Madge and Pober, 2001)