Integrin alpha Chains

Medical Dictionary -> Integrin alpha Chains

Integrin alpha Chains


The alpha subunits of integrin heterodimers (INTEGRINS), which mediate ligand specificity. There are approximately 18 different alpha chains, exhibiting great sequence diversity; several chains are also spliced into alternative isoforms. They possess a long extracellular portion (1200 amino acids) containing a MIDAS (metal ion-dependent adhesion site) motif, and seven 60-amino acid tandem repeats, the last 4 of which form EF HAND MOTIFS. The intracellular portion is short (>50 AA) with the exception of INTEGRIN ALPHA4.


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