Integrins, matrix, motility and mechanotransduction in cancer

The 2025 Gordon Research Conference on Fibronectin, Integrins and Related Molecules will be held in Lucca (Barga), Lucca Italy. Apply today to reserve your spot.

van der Net et al. show that mechanical interactions with the stromal component collagen I trigger reprogramming of colorectal cancer cells into a fetal-like state, through mechanosensitive integrins ...

Summary: The recently discovered extracellular matrix protein SNED1 promotes the adhesion of breast cancer cells and neural crest cells via interaction with α5β1 and αvβ3 integrins, the first SNED1 re...

The 2025 Gordon Research Seminar on Fibronectin, Integrins and Related Molecules (GRS) will be held in Lucca (Barga), Lucca Italy. Apply today to reserve your spot.

Talin is a well-known regulator of cell adhesion and intracellular force transmission in animals. Here, the authors demonstrate that talin’s mechanical function is evolutionarily conserved and already established in unicellular eukaryotes.

The development and proper functioning of the kidney is dependent on the interaction of kidney cells with the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). These interactions are mediated by heterodimeric membrane-bound receptors called integrins, which bind to the ECM via their extracellular domain and via their cytoplasmic tail to intracellular adaptor proteins, to assemble large macromolecular adhesion complexes. These interactions enable integrins to control cellular functions such as intracellular signalling and organization of the actin cytoskeleton and are therefore crucial to organ function. The different nephron segments and the collecting duct system have unique morphologies, functions and ECM environments and are thus equipped with unique sets of integrins with distinct specificities for the ECM with which they interact. These cell-type-specific functions are facilitated by specific intracellular integrin binding proteins, which are critical in determining the integrin activation

Platelet integrins, in addition to other platelet receptors, are known to control hemostasis, thrombosis but also metastatic progression. Yet, their exclusive but combined deficiency has never been te...

Platelet integrins, in addition to other platelet receptors, are known to control hemostasis, thromb

MacDonald et al. show that EGF triggers de-sialylation of plasma membrane glycoproteins like integrins in a mechanism that depends on the Na+/H+ antiporter NHE1 and the neuraminidases Neu1 and Neu3. I...

During development, tissues undergo morphogenesis to achieve their final form. This process relies on coordinated cell shape changes, which have predo…