Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Static Adhesion Assay for the Study of Integrin Activation in T Lymphocytes
Published on: June 13, 2014
Integrin structure, activation, and interactions
Iain D Campbell1, Martin J Humphries
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. iain.campbell@bioch.ox.ac.uk
Abstract:
Integrins are large, membrane-spanning, heterodimeric proteins that are essential for a metazoan existence. All members of the integrin family adopt a shape that resembles a large "head" on two "legs," with the head containing the sites for ligand binding and subunit association. Most of the receptor dimer is extracellular, but both subunits traverse the plasma membrane and terminate in short cytoplasmic domains. These domains initiate the assembly of large signaling complexes and thereby bridge the extracellular matrix to the intracellular cytoskeleton. To allow cells to sample and respond to a dynamic pericellular environment, integrins have evolved a highly responsive receptor activation mechanism that is regulated primarily by changes in tertiary and quaternary structure. This review summarizes recent progress in the structural and molecular functional studies of this important class of adhesion receptor.
Related Concept Videos
Integrins
Some ECM proteins assemble into a basement membrane to which the remaining components adhere. Proteoglycans typically form the bulk of the ECM while fibrous proteins, like collagen,...
Activation of Integrins
In "outside-in signaling," external factors in the extracellular space bind to exposed ligand binding sites on integrins. This causes the inactive protein to undergo a conformational change to become active. Integrins are often clustered on the cell membrane. Repetitive and regularly spaced ligand binding events provide an effective stimulus.
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...
Assembly of Signaling Complexes
Interaction domains in cell signaling
Interaction domains recognize exposed features of their binding partners containing post-translationally modified sequences,...
Anchoring Junctions
Overview of Cell-Matrix Interactions

