Platelets might be involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic microangiopathy. Wide interindividual variations in the density of a platelet collagen receptor (alpha2beta1 integrin or glycoprotein Ia/IIa) are reportedly associated with polymorphism(s) in the gene encoding the alpha subunit of the receptor, including a Bgl II polymorphism in intron 7. The aim of the present study was to determine t...

a common ligand with GPVI and requires previous activating signals to adopt a high-affinity conformation needed for colla-gen adhesion. Mazzucato et al make an important contribution by showing that, as platelets interact with collagen under flow, ␣2␤1 receptors generate calcium signals that are distinct from those generated by GPVI. Surprisingly, ␣2␤1-dependent calcium signals are even generat...

Lipid-rich atherosclerotic plaques are vulnerable, and their rupture can cause the formation of a platelet- and fibrin-rich thrombus leading to myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke. Although the role of plaque-based tissue factor as stimulator of blood coagulation has been recognized, it is not known whether plaques can cause thrombus formation through direct activation of platelets. We is...

Platelet adhesion to collagen-coated surfaces in whole blood under flow conditions is mediated by both von Willebrand factor (vWF)-dependent recruitment of the platelet glycoprotein Ib-IX receptor complex and collagen interaction with the integrin alpha2beta1. In type 1 von Willebrand disease (vWD), platelet adhesive functions are impaired due to the decrease in vWF levels in plasma and platele...

Mouse cells are not susceptible to infection with echovirus 1 (EV-1) because they lack the viral receptor, human VLA-2. Two mouse fibroblast cell lines, L cells and 3T3 cells, were made susceptible to EV-1 infection after transformation with cDNAs of human VLA-2. After EV-1 infection, L cell transformants of human VLA-2 (alpha2beta1 L cells) develop cytopathic effect (CPE) as expected, while 3T...

The endothelin-1 (ET-1) axis represents a novel target in several malignancies, including ovarian carcinoma. Upon being activated, the endothelin A receptor (ET(A)R) mediates multiple tumor-promoting activities, including mitogenesis, escape from apoptosis, angiogenesis, metastasis-related protease activation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and invasion. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a mu...

A single chain glycoprotein with an estimated molecular mass of 160 kD (gp160) was previously identified as a human lung tumor-associated antigen. This tumor marker is shown here to be associated noncovalently with a second 130-kD protein. Sequential immunoprecipitation studies of surface iodinated lung tumor cell lysates reveal that this heterodimeric complex is indistinguishable serologically...

BACKGROUND Tumour cells utilize different migration strategies to invade surrounding tissues and elude anticancer treatments. It is therefore important to understand the mechanisms underlying migration process, in order to aid the development of therapies aimed at blocking the dissemination of cancer cells. AIMS In this study tumour cell lines of different histological origin were analysed by...

The integrin VLA-2 was previously found to bind to either collagen alone, or collagen plus laminin, but the mechanism for this cell-specific functional difference was unknown. Here we transfected VLA-2 O/2 subunit cDNA into K562 cells and obtained VLA-2 (called Form-O) which bound to neither collagen nor laminin. We then used a Matrigel selection procedure to enrich for a minor subpopulation of...