Integrins, heterodimers of alpha and beta subunits, are a family of cell surface molecules mediating cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interaction. The largest subgroup is formed by the beta(1) subunit containing integrins which consist of 12 members with different ligand-binding properties. We previously reported that overexpressed integrin beta(1) subunit in the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line SMMC-7721 imposed a growth inhibitory effect through the upregulation of p21(cip1) and p27(kip1). In this study, we confirmed the growth inhibitory effect of beta(1) subunit overexpression in different cancer cell lines. The upregulated CDK inhibitors induced by beta(1) integrin overexpression were essential for this integrin-mediated growth arrest. Reduced c-Jun level after integrin beta(1) overexpression plays an important role in the transcriptional activation of p21 through the Sp1 sites. Solely overexpressed beta(1) subunit could induce the expression of diverse alpha subunit in different cell lines, among which alpha(5) subunit was found to be correlated with integrin beta(1)-mediated growth arrest. Relative lack of ECM-integrin interaction might be a reason for integrin beta(1) overexpression-mediated growth arrest. These results helped us understand more about the mechanisms that integrins regulate cell growth.
