Corneal integrins and their functions

There is a minimum of 12 different integrin heterodimers reported to be expressed by the major resident cells of the cornea: the corneal and limbal epithelial cells, keratocytes/fibroblasts, and corneal endothelial cells. These different integrin heterodimers play important and varied roles in maintaining the cornea and organizing how its cells interact with their surrounding extracellular matrix to maintain corneal clarity. In this review, an overview of the discovery and functions of integrins is provided along with a description of the current state of our knowledge of this large family of important proteins.