Disrupted physical and functional associations between neurons are thought to govern the abnormal patterns of neural signaling that underlie neuropsychiatric disorders. As membrane signaling proteins that bridge extracellular interactions and intracellular signaling, integrins have been well studied for their role in cell migration, cell adhesion, and metastasis, but have been relatively underexplored for their contribution to mental illness and pharmacotherapy.

Integrins are obligate α- and β-heterodimers that display molecular heterogeneity, as well as developmental and regional regulation (Denda and Reichardt, 2007). Early in development, integrin signaling supports developmental events such as neuronal migration and synaptic differentiation. Integrins also contribute to the plasticity of mature synapses. In turn, both integrin expression and signaling are sensitive to drug and pathophysiological manipulation of synapses. For example, integrin subunit expression is differentially altered by acute and chronic cocaine administration (Wiggins et al, 2009). Such alterations are likely to be functionally important, as integrin expression can influence neuronal recovery after injury, a capacity that depends on the interaction of integrins with growth factor receptors and cytokines.

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