Integrin degradation during postmortem cold storage and the level of drip loss in pork

Abstract

Integrins are a family of transmembrane adhesion proteins. An integrin molecule is composed of two subunits called α and β each of which has a large extracellular domain, a transmembrane fragment, and a short cytoplasmic sequence. The main function of integrin is to bind extracellular matrix proteins and the skeletal muscle cell membrane. In addition, integrin as a membrane receptor is involved in signal transduction and cell response to microenvironmental signals, by relaying information about the structure and composition of the cell environment. Postmortem integrin degradation has been the subject of several studies, mainly in pork, where the mechanisms of postmortem integrin degradation are not completely understood. Therefore, the aim of the study was to present current knowledge on the role of integrin in postmortem drip loss in pork. Research to date has shown that postmortem integrin degradation could contribute to the formation of drip channels between the cell body and cell membrane of muscle fibers, which increases the drip loss from pork.