Integrins are heterodimeric proteins made up of alpha and beta subunits. At least 18 alpha and 8 beta subunits have been described in mammals. Integrin family members are membrane receptors involved in cell adhesion and recognition in a variety of processes including embryogenesis, hemostasis, tissue repair, immune response and metastatic diffusion of tumor cells. This gene encodes a beta subunit. Multiple alternatively spliced transcript variants which encode different protein isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008].