Integrin matrix receptors in renal injury.

Integrins play a major role in cell-matrix interactions. They alter cellular functions upon binding to matrix proteins or following cross linking and can in turn be regulated by other stimuli acting on the cell. In the kidney integrins may help regulate cellular proliferation and matrix turnover during renal injury, effects which could play an important role in the pathogenesis of glomerulosclerosis and the resultant loss of renal function. Alterations in cell adhesiveness may contribute to tubular epithelial cell sloughing and tubular obstruction in acute renal failure and may play a role in alterations of glomerular capillary wall permeability, leading to proteinuria. Adhesion molecules on GEC may be important targets of antibodies in several models of proteinuric renal disease and areas of GEC detachment from the GBM may be involved in the development of glomerulosclerosis. Since integrins are major links between the ECM and cells, better understanding of their function in the normal kidney and during injury is of importance to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of renal disease.