“…Thy-1, an abundant mammalian glycoprotein described initially 50 years ago (Barker and Hagood, 2008;Morris, 1992), is expressed in T cells, activated endothelial cells and neurons (Lee et al, 1998;Williams, 1976), and acts in trans as a ligand for avb3 integrin and syndecan-4 on astrocytes (Avalos et al, 2004;Avalos et al, 2009;Leyton et al, 2001). Binding of Thy-1 to both avb3 integrin and syndecan-4 in astrocytes triggers tyrosine phosphorylation of focal adhesion (FA) proteins, activation of protein kinase Ca (PKCa), RhoA and its effector p160ROCK, thereby increasing astrocyte adhesion to the extracellular matrix (Avalos et al, 2004;Avalos et al, 2002;Avalos et al, 2009;Hermosilla et al, 2008;Leyton et al, 2001).…”