ITGA6

ITGA6

A gene on chromosome 2q31.1 that encodes an integrin alpha chain protein which, like all integrins, forms a heterodimer with a beta chain, thereby participating in an array of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, playing a major role in cell migration, organ and tissue development, differentiation and metastases. Alpha 6 binds to a beta-1 chain, forming the VLA-6 integrin, a receptor for laminin on platelets, or with beta 4 to form TSP180, a receptor for laminin in epithelial cells, which plays a critical structural role in hemidesmosome.