Q. Zhu et al., INTEGRIN EXPRESSION IN HUMAN DENTAL-PULP CELLS AND THEIR ROLE IN CELLATTACHMENT ON EXTRACELLULAR-MATRIX PROTEINS, Journal of endodontics, 24(10), 1998, pp. 641-644
Integrins are a family of heterodimeric glycoproteins consisting of al
pha and beta subunits that noncovalently interact to form cell surface
adhesion receptors, The objective of this study was to identify integ
rins in human dental pulp cells and determine their role in human dent
al pulp cell attachment to the biological active molecules, laminin an
d fibronectin, Integrin expression was studied by immunoblot and immun
oprecipitation using monoclonal integrin antibodies. The role of integ
rin in human dental pulp cell adhesion on laminin and fibronectin was
determined by inhibition of cell adhesion with those antibodies. This
study found human dental pulp cells expressed alpha(1), alpha(3), alph
a(5), alpha(6), alpha(v), and beta(1) integrin subunits, The adhesion
of human dental pulp cells to laminin and fibronectin was not inhibite
d by monoclonal antibody to any subunit, except that anti-beta(1) anti
body inhibited pulp cells adhesion on laminin, These data provide info
rmation for further studying the role of integrins in dental pulp cell
biological function.