Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/umls/id/C1512810
GO: The attachment of a cell, either to another cell or to an underlying substrate such as the extracellular matrix, via an integrin, a heterodimeric adhesion receptor formed by the non-covalent association of particular alpha and beta subunits. [GOC:add, PMID:12213832, PMID:14754902],NCI: Cell-matrix adhesions play essential roles in important biological processes including cell motility, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, regulation of gene expression and cell survival. At the cell-extracellular matrix contact points, specialized structures are formed and termed focal adhesions, where bundles of actin filaments are anchored to transmembrane receptors of the integrin family through a multi-molecular complex of junctional plaque proteins. Some of the constituents of focal adhesions participate in the structural link between membrane receptors and the actin cytoskeleton, while others are signaling molecules, including different protein kinases and phosphatases, their substrates, and various adapter prot