Integrin alpha 6 explained

Integrin alpha-6 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ITGA6 gene.

Function

The ITGA6 protein product is the integrin alpha chain alpha 6. Integrins are integral cell-surface proteins composed of an alpha chain and a beta chain. A given chain may combine with multiple partners resulting in different integrins. For example, alpha 6 may combine with beta 4 in the integrin referred to as TSP180, or with beta 1 in the integrin VLA-6. Integrins are known to participate in cell adhesion as well as cell-surface mediated signalling. Two transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.^[1] Specific loss of this integrin chain in the intestinal epithelium, and thus of their hemidesmosomes, induces long-standing colitis and infiltrating adenocarcinomas.^[2]

Interactions

ITGA6 has been shown to interact with TSPAN4^[3] and GIPC1.^[4]

See also

• Cluster of differentiation
• Integrins

Further reading

• Lipscomb EA, Mercurio AM . Mobilization and activation of a signaling competent alpha6beta4integrin underlies its contribution to carcinoma progression . Cancer and Metastasis Reviews . 24 . 3 . 413–23 . September 2005 . 16258729 . 10.1007/s10555-005-5133-4 . 26150860 .

External links

• • ITGA6 Info with links in the Cell Migration Gateway

Notes and References

1. Web site: Entrez Gene: ITGA6 integrin, alpha 6.
2. De Arcangelis A, Hamade H, Alpy F, Normand S, Bruyère E, Lefebvre O, Méchine-Neuville A, Siebert S, Pfister V, Lepage P, Laquerriere P, Dembele D, Delanoye-Crespin A, Rodius S, Robine S, Kedinger M, Van Seuningen I, Simon-Assmann P, Chamaillard M, Labouesse M, Georges-Labouesse E . 6 . Hemidesmosome integrity protects the colon against colitis and colorectal cancer . Gut . 66 . 10 . 1748–1760 . October 2017 . 27371534 . 5595104 . 10.1136/gutjnl-2015-310847 .
3. Tachibana I, Bodorova J, Berditchevski F, Zutter MM, Hemler ME . NAG-2, a novel transmembrane-4 superfamily (TM4SF) protein that complexes with integrins and other TM4SF proteins . The Journal of Biological Chemistry . 272 . 46 . 29181–9 . November 1997 . 9360996 . 10.1074/jbc.272.46.29181 . free .
4. Tani TT, Mercurio AM . PDZ interaction sites in integrin alpha subunits. T14853, TIP/GIPC binds to a type I recognition sequence in alpha 6A/alpha 5 and a novel sequence in alpha 6B . The Journal of Biological Chemistry . 276 . 39 . 36535–42 . September 2001 . 11479315 . 10.1074/jbc.M105785200 . free .