How Integrins Link Cells to Their Environment

Integrins help cells connect with their environment and send signals across the cell membrane. They can carry information from outside the cell to the inside, or from inside the cell to the outside. These two paths are called outside-in signaling and inside-out signaling.

In outside-in signaling,...

For a cell to migrate through the ECM, the cell's attachment to the ECM must be made and broken quickly.

This is facilitated by membrane-bound integrins rapidly transitioning between an active state, which forms attachments, and an inactive state that does not.

In the inactive conformation, the tails of the integrin dimer are compa...