The role of CD44 in HA-binding and signaling has
recently been investigated in hematopoietic cells
from CD44-deficient mice (Schmits et al., 1997;
Protin et al., 1999). CD44-deficient mice develop
normally and exhibit minor abnormalities in hematopoiesis and lymphocyte recirculation (Schmits
et al., 1997; Protin et al., 1999). The induction of
inflammatory gene expression in response to hyaluronan was observed in the absence of CD44 in
bone marrow cultures and dendritic cells. These
data suggest that there are CD44-independent