Integrins

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....

Integrins, macrophages, and sarcoidosis.

T he article by Striz et al in this issue of Chest (see page 882) examines @32 integrin and ICAM-1 ex pression on human alveolar macrophages in patients with sarcoidosis and in control subjects. To put this interesting article in context, a brief overview of the background leading to this work is necessary. The cell population recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from normal lungs is predo...

Integrins and cell proliferation

Proliferation of mammalian cells is tightly regulated by multiple environmental influences, primarily adhesion to the extracellular matrix (ECM), cell-cell adhesion and soluble factors (i.e. polypeptide growth factors or inhibitors, mitogenic lipids, inflammatory cytokines and hormones). Of these environmental cues, soluble growth factors and integrinmediated adhesion are most crucial, loss of ...