Integrating with integrins.

Complexes of tetraspanins with integrins

Tetraspanins (also referred to as tetraspans or TM4SF proteins) are a family of widely expressed four-transmembrane-domain proteins. Tetraspanins first appeared in multicellular organisms (the sponge genome contains at least two tetraspanin genes), and the family contains more >26 proteins* in higher eukaryotic organisms. Tetraspanins are postulated to have a topology in which there are two ext...

Integrins and bone metastasis: integrating tumor cell and stromal cell interactions.

Integrins on both tumor cells and the supporting host stromal cells in bone (osteoclasts, new blood vessels, inflammatory cells, platelets and bone marrow stromal cells) play key roles in enhancing bone metastasis. Tumor cells localize to specific tissues through integrin-mediated contacts with extracellular matrix and stromal cells. Integrin expression and signaling are perturbed in cancer cel...

Neuroblastoma Integrins

Integrins make a choice

Integrins make a choice ignaling researchers have only a few factors with which to explain a whole lot of biology. On page 407, Goel et al. describe how two integrin variants channel the actions of a single factor, insulin-like growth factor (IGF), into two distinct pathways that induce either adhesion or proliferation. The ␤ 1A integrin variant was known to be associated with proliferation and...

Integrins in immunity.

A successful immune response depends on the capacity of immune cells to travel from one location in the body to another--these cells are rapid migrators, travelling at speeds of microm/minute. Their ability to penetrate into tissues and to make contacts with other cells depends chiefly on the beta2 integrin known as LFA-1. For this reason, we describe the control of its activity in some detail....