Cell cycle and cell adhesion are two interdependent cellular processes regulating each other, reciprocally, in every cell cycle phase. The cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix (ECM) via integrin receptors triggers signaling pathways required for the cell cycle progression; the passage from the G1 to S phase and the completion of cytokinesis are the best-understood events. Growing evidence, however, suggests more adhesion-dependent regulatory aspects of the cell cycle, particularly during G2 to M transition and early mitosis. Conversely, the cell cycle machinery regulates cell adhesion in manners recently shown driven mainly by cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1). This review summarizes the recent findings regarding the role of integrin-mediated cell adhesion and its downstream signaling components in regulating the cell cycle, emphasizing the cell cycle progression through the G2 and early M phases. Further investigations are required to raise our knowledge about the molecular mechanisms of crosstalk between cell adhesion and the cell cycle in detail.
Keywords: G2 phase; adhesion; cell cycle; integrin; mitosis.