Signal Transduction by Cell Adhesion Receptors, Integrins

Abstract

Interactions of cells with basement membranes and the extracellular matrices are crucial for various biological processes, including the maintenance of tissue integrity, embryogenesis, wound healing, and the metastasis of tumor cells. These processes involve cell adhesion and migration. Adhesive and migratory events require certain biochemical entities, formation of multiprotein complex between these entities, and their functional communication one another. Cell adhesion is mediated through cell adhesion receptors or transmembrane glycoproteins binding to extracellular matrix (ECM) or counterreceptors on neighbor cells. Cell adhesion receptor families include cadherins, selectins, syndecans, and the immunoglobulin superfamily of cell adhesion molecules (IgCAMs). In this review, integrin-mediated cellular processes such as cell proliferation and apoptosis and their molecular basis will be discussed based on recent observations, although other cell adhesion receptors can play important roles or be involved in the processes and recent outstanding reviews are also available