Integrin cytoskeletal interactions.

Integrin adhesion receptors mediate cell-cell and cell-substratum adhesion and provide a continuous link for the bidirectional transmission of mechanical force and biochemical signals across the plasma membrane. Integrin-dependent cellular activities such as adhesion, migration, proliferation, and survival rely upon the dynamic interaction of integrin cytoplasmic tails with intracellular integrin-binding proteins. In this review, we describe some of the methods that we have used to identify and characterize the interactions between integrin cytoplasmic tails and cytoskeletal proteins, as well as highlight methods to decipher the regulation of integrin tail interactions with intracellular ligands. Specifically, we describe recombinant models of integrin cytoplasmic tails and their use in protein-protein interaction studies.