The Role of Integrins and Small GTPases in Health and Disease
A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 November 2025 | Viewed by 49
Special Issue Editor
Interests: cell signaling, and cell adhesion, integrin activation, spatiotemporal aspects of signaling and internalization; virus-host cell interactions (attachment and entry); viral pathogenesis; plasminogen activation and inflammation; multiplexing small GTPase activity assays for pathogen initiated signaling during bacterial and viral infection; dysregulation of cell barrier function due to viral and bacterial infection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Small GTPases, particularly those from the Rho family (including RhoA, Rac, and Cdc42), are crucial for cytoskeletal rearrangements that facilitate pathogen entry, such as filopodia formation. Integrins activate the Rac1 and RhoA pathways, essential for cell adhesion, spreading, and motility. As adhesion receptors, integrins mediate interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix, while small GTPases function as signaling molecules that regulate various cellular processes, including cell motility, cytoskeletal rearrangements, and vesicular trafficking.
Integrin-mediated adhesion can activate signaling pathways involving focal adhesion kinase (FAK), Src, and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), influencing viral replication and host cell responses. Rac1 is vital for early adhesion, and RhoA plays a role in late-stage adhesion and focal adhesion maturation. Integrin outside-in signaling, involving G protein Gα13 and small GTPases, enhances cell spreading and migration. Viruses exploit small GTPases to modify the cytoskeleton for movement within host cells and support viral replication. They also regulate the transport of viral particles to the nucleus and exit from the host cell.
Certain viruses, like adenoviruses, hantaviruses, and SARS-CoV-2, and bacterial pathogens such as Bordetella pertussis and Helicobacter pylori, utilize integrins for entry via endocytosis, enhancing their survival in host cells. Integrins are also essential for leukocyte recruitment to sites of inflammation, which is key to the innate immune response against pathogens. In summary, integrins and small GTPases are crucial in infectious disease pathogenesis, influencing infection stages from entry to host responses, and understanding their roles may lead to new therapeutic strategies.
Dr. Tione Buranda
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- cell signaling
- integrins
- cell adhesion
- integrins diseases
- infectious diseases
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