Gravity and cellular responses

Extracellular matrices (ECM) are the primary structural materials found in connective tissue in vertebrates that serve to maintain tissue shape (skin), aid in locomotion (bone), transmit and absorb mechanical loads (tendon and ligament), prevent premature mechanical failure (tendon, ligament, skin, and blood vessel wall), partition cells and tissues into functional units (fascia), act as scaffolds that define tissue and organ architecture (organ parenchyma), act as storage devices for elastic energy (tendon and blood vessel wall), and as the substrate for cell adhesion, growth, and differentiation of a variety of cell types. 

Integrins are a family of cellular transmembrane receptors that provide physical and biochemical bridges between components of the ECM (see 

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