Int J Mol Sci
2018[Feb]; 19
(2
): ? PMID29415483
show ga
From the thymus to the peripheral lymph nodes, integrin-mediated interactions
with neighbor cells and the extracellular matrix tune T cell behavior by
organizing cytoskeletal remodeling and modulating receptor signaling. LFA-1 (?L?2
integrin) and VLA-4 (?4?1 integrin) play a key role throughout the T cell
lifecycle from thymocyte differentiation to lymphocyte extravasation and finally
play a fundamental role in organizing immune synapse, providing an essential
costimulatory signal for the T cell receptor. Apart from tuning T cell signaling,
integrins also contribute to homing to specific target organs as exemplified by
the importance of ?4?7 in maintaining the gut immune system. However, apart from
those well-characterized examples, the physiological significance of the other
integrin dimers expressed by T cells is far less understood. Thus,
integrin-mediated cell-to-cell and cell-to-matrix interactions during the T cell
lifespan still represent an open field of research.
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