Integrins in bone metastasis formation and potential therapeutic implications.

Integrins constitute a family of cell surface receptors that are heterodimers composed of noncovalently associated alpha and beta subunits. Integrins bind to extracellular matrix proteins and immunogobulin superfamily molecules. They exert a stringent control on cell migration, survival and proliferation. However, their expression and functions are often deregulated in cancer, and many lines of evidence implicate them as key regulators during progression from primary tumor growth to metastasis. Here, we review the role of integrins in bone metastasis formation and present evidence that the use of integrin-targeted therapeutic agents may be an efficient strategy to block tumor metastasis.