Integrin characterization in pulmonary bronchioles

Integrins are a family of cell surface glycoproteins that act as receptors for ECM proteins or for membrane bound counter-receptors on other cells. The integrin receptor family of vertebrates includes at least 16 distinct α subunits and at least 8 β subunits which can associate to form more than 20 distinct integrins. So far, there are no published reports describing integrin characterization in mouse lung tissue and mouse Clara cells. This paper described the characterization of six integrins, mainly α5, αv, α6, β1, β3, and β4, in mouse pulmonary bronchioles and also in Clara cell cultures. α5, αv, α6, β1, and β4 integrins were present in Clara cells both in tissue sections and cultures. β3 integrin was found to be absent in mouse Clara cells.