ITGA5 and atrial fibrillation: AF cells exposed to CTS at 2.0 Hz showed a significant increase in the gene expression of integrin subunits, Itgα5 (12 hours postloading; fold change = 1.4 ± 0.12) and Itgβ1 (12 hours postloading; fold change = 1.6 ± 0.13) compared to unloaded controls (Figure 9A).