Integrins : their roles as mechanosensors and as targets in therapeutics.

Abstract

Integrins are major adhesion proteins that mediate cell-to-cell, cell-to-matrix, or cell-to-pathogen interaction (Hynes, 2002). They are involved in angiogenesis (Silva et al., 2008), embryonic development (Spencer et al., 2004) and immunity (Smith-Garvin et al., 2009). In humans, there are 24 integrin heterodimers, each made up of an α-subunit that is non-covalently associated with a β-subunit (Hynes, 1992). Integrins αLβ2, αMβ2, αXβ2 and αDβ2, are expressed only in leukocytes. The integrin α-subunits can be classified into two types: one containing an Inserted-domain (I-domain), and one without (Cox et al., 2010; Hynes, 2002; Springer, 1997; Tan, 2012)