Cell Adhesion and Signalling, FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology (IFOM), Via Adamello 16, 20139 Milan, Italy.
Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2011 Mar;12(3):189-97. doi: 10.1038/nrm3068.
The signalling activity of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) such as cadherins, immunoglobulin-like CAMs or integrins has long been considered to be a direct consequence of their adhesive properties. However, there are physiological and pathological processes that reduce or even abrogate the adhesive properties of CAMs, such as cleavage, conformational changes, mutations and shedding. In some cases these 'adhesion deficient' CAMs still retain signalling properties through their cytoplasmic domains and/or their mutated or truncated extracellular domains. The ability of CAMs to activate signal transduction cascades in the absence of cell adhesion significantly extends their range of biological activities.
细胞黏附分子（CAMs）的信号转导活性，如钙黏蛋白、免疫球蛋白样 CAMs 或整合素，长期以来一直被认为是其黏附特性的直接结果。然而，存在一些生理和病理过程会降低甚至消除 CAMs 的黏附特性，如切割、构象变化、突变和脱落。在某些情况下，这些“黏附缺陷”的 CAMs 仍然通过其细胞质结构域和/或其突变或截短的细胞外结构域保留信号转导特性。CAMs 在没有细胞黏附的情况下激活信号转导级联反应的能力显著扩展了它们的生物学活性范围。
