INTEGRINS AND SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION PATHWAYS - THE ROAD TAKEN

Adhesive interactions play critical roles in directing the migration, proliferation, and differentiation of cells; aberrations in such inter actions can lead to pathological disorders. These adhesive interaction s, mediated by cell surface receptors that bind to ligands on adjacent cells or in the extracellular matrix, also regulate intracellular sig nal transduction pathways that control adhesion-induced changes in cel l physiology. Though the extracellular molecular interactions involvin g many adhesion receptors have been well characterized, the adhesion-d ependent intracellular signaling events that regulate these physiologi cal alterations have only begun to be elucidated. This article will fo cus on recent advances in our understanding of intracellular signal tr ansduction pathways regulated by the integrin family of adhesion recep tors.