Edited By: Andrea Becchetti Universita di Milano-Bicocca Annarosa Arcangeli Department of Experimental Pathology and Oncology, University of Firenze Viale G.B. Morgani, 50, 50134 Firenze, Italy ISBN: TBA Published: 2009-02-01 Purchase book from landesbioscience.com Chapters list

By mediating cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix, integrins regulate many developmental processes in the broadest sense (from cell choice between differentiation and proliferation, to tissue remodeling and organogenesis). Ion channels would appear instead to be better suited for rapid cellular signalatory tasks. By controlling membrane potential and ion fluxes, they typically regulate action potentials, muscle contraction and exocytosis. For many decades, these two branches of cell biology have proceeded almost independently. A growing body of evidence shows however that considerable cross-talk occurs between integrins and ion channels. They often associate to form macromolecular complexes (preferentially located in membrane lipid rafts) that regulate a variety of intracellular signaling cascades. In other cases, this interaction is indirect (e.g. mediated by G proteins). In addition, ion channel stimulation frequently controls integrin activation or expression. This book provides a general introduction to the problems and methods of this flourishing field. In addition it provides a series of essays on cellular models in which these interactions have been studied in depth, such as smooth muscle, cardiac myocytes, blood cells and neoplastic cells. The study of channel-integrin interplay has important mechanistic implications for understanding how the extracellular matrix regulates as disparate processes as muscle excitability, synaptic plasticity and lymphocyte activation, just to mention a few. The derangement of these processes has clear implications for pathogenetic processes, in particular for tumour invasivity, cardiovascular pathology and neurology.

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