Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 3 (ICAM3)

The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM) family. All ICAM proteins are type I transmembrane glycoproteins, contain 2-9 immunoglobulin-like C2-type domains, and bind to the leukocyte adhesion LFA-1 protein. This protein is constitutively and abundantly expressed by all leucocytes and may be the most important ligand for LFA-1 in the initiation of the immune response.

It functions not only as an adhesion molecule, but also as a potent signalling molecule.Using the cDNA as a probe, Bossy et al. (1994) mapped the ICAM3 gene to 19p13.3-p13.2 by isotopic in situ hybridization. They also mapped the gene to chromosome 19 by PCR amplification of DNAs from somatic cell hybrids. ICAM1 maps to the same region of chromosome 19.