INTEGRINS - POSSIBLE FUNCTIONS IN THE ADULT CNS

Integrins comprise a large family of heterodimeric proteins that media te cell-cell and cell-extracellular-matrix adhesive connections. There is an extensive literature on their importance in neural development and cancer, but evidence for the existence of integrins in the adult C NS has emerged only recently. With growing immunohistochemical and mol ecular biological evidence for the presence of integrins in the adult CNS, a variety of functions from microglial migration to synaptic rear rangements can be considered for these adhesive proteins.