What is the main function of integrins?
What is the main function of integrins?
Integrins regulate cellular growth, proliferation, migration, signaling, and cytokine activation and release and thereby play important roles in cell proliferation and migration, apoptosis, tissue repair, as well as in all processes critical to inflammation, infection, and angiogenesis.
What is the function of RGD?
RGD is involved in cell attachment, cell spreading, actin-skeleton formation, and focal-adhesion formation with integrins. These four overlapped reactions are important for transmitting signals related to cell behavior and the cell cycle [13].
What does RGD peptide do?
Arginylglycylaspartic acid (RGD) is the most common peptide motif responsible for cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix (ECM), found in species ranging from Drosophila to humans.
What is the role of RGD tripeptide in integrin function?
A subset of the integrins recognize the RGD motif within their ligands, the binding of which mediates both cell-substratum and cell-cell interactions. For example, the RGD peptide can be used to target cancer cells on which cell membrane integrins are up-regulated compared to healthy cells.
What is RGD integrin?
The RGD sequence is the cell attachment site of a large number of adhesive extracellular matrix, blood, and cell surface proteins, and nearly half of the over 20 known integrins recognize this sequence in their adhesion protein ligands. Some other integrins bind to related sequences in their ligands.
How are integrin receptors involved in cell adhesion and why is the RGD sequence important to the integrin extracellular matrix ligands?
The integrin receptor family regulates cell adhesion, migration, invasion, and cell survival. Once bound to the extracellular matrix, the receptors recruit multiple proteins to the cell membrane, including cytoskeletal molecules such as paxillin and vinculin that form focal adhesions to extracellular matrix components.
What is the function of the RGD domain on fibronectin?
An exhaustive literature has established that RGD is highly effective at promoting the attachment of numerous cell types to a plethora of diverse materials. RGD is the principal integrin-binding domain present within ECM proteins such as fibronectin, vitronectin, fibrinogen, osteopontin, and bone sialoprotein [3].
What are integrin ligands?
Immunologically important integrin ligands are the inter-cellular adhesion molecules (ICAMs), immunoglobulin superfamily members present on inflamed endothelium and antigen-presenting cells.
What is integrin activation?
Integrin activation is an important mechanism through which cells regulate integrin function by manipulating the ligand affinity of integrins spatially and temporally. Structural and functional studies suggest that integrins can exist in different ligand affinity states – low, intermediate and high (reviewed in [1]).
What are RGD peptides and mimics used for?
As the integrin-mediated cell attachment influences and regulates cell migration, growth, differentiation, and apoptosis, the RGD peptides and mimics can be used to probe integrin functions in various biological systems. Drug design based on the RGD structure may provide new treatments for diseases such as thrombosis, osteoporosis, and cancer.
How can I design a reagent that binds selectively to RGD-directed integrins?
Reagents that bind selectively to only one or a few of the RGD-directed integrins can be designed by cyclizing peptides with selected sequences around the RGD and by synthesizing RGD mimics.
How do integrins bind to adhesion proteins?
Some other integrins bind to related sequences in their ligands. The integrin-binding activity of adhesion proteins can be reproduced by short synthetic peptides containing the RGD sequence. Such peptides promote cell adhesion when insolubilized onto a surface, and inhibit it when presented to cells in solution.
What is the significance of the RGD sequence?
The RGD sequence is the cell attachment site of a large number of adhesive extracellular matrix, blood, and cell surface proteins, and nearly half of the over 20 known integrins recognize this sequence in their adhesion protein ligands. Some other integrins bind to related sequences in their ligands.
