Role of CD38 in cell-cell interactions under conditions of endothelial dysfunction

We studied the role of receptor/ectoenzyme CD38 in the formation of endothelial damage and pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction. CD38 was located in sites of protrusion of the outer cytoplasmic membrane. The majority of CD38⁺ accumulation sites coincided with the protrusion pole, while in some cells expression of CD38 was spread along the entire cell membrane surface or located on the pole opposite to the protrusion. We hypothesized that these states reflect the processes of rafting and clustering of the receptor, which are essential for cell-cell interactions in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction. __________ Translated from Byulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 145, No. 6, pp. 648–651, June, 2008