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Cell signalling

Walking the integrin activation road

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 7, page 795 (2006)Cite this article

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Many signalling molecules have been shown to regulate integrin activation, yet the molecular links that connect agonist stimulation with the final steps that lead to integrin activation are not known. Han et al. now describe a pathway from agonist stimulation to integrin activation and establish that Rap1 induces the formation of an 'integrin activation complex' that binds to and activates integrin receptors.

Activation of the platelet integrin αIIbβ3 has been widely used to model activation of the whole integrin family. Platelet agonists stimulate the activation of integrin αIIbβ3, but they fail to activate recombinant αIIbβ3 expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells or several other nucleated cells.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Han, J. et al. Reconstructing and deconstructing agonist-induced activation of integrin αIIbβ3. Curr. Biol. 16, 1796–1806

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Authors
  1. Ekat Kritikou
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Kritikou, E. Walking the integrin activation road. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 7, 795 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2048

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