Functional Analysis of Alpha-6 Integrin Cytoplasinic Domains

摘要

Cell migration is crucial to embryonic development, tissue remodeling and cancerinvasion. To migrate properly, cells must integrate multiple incoming signals. Once committed to migration, they coordinately regulate, both spatially and temporally, surface receptors and cytoskeleton, in order to generate traction and movement (Lauffenburger and Horwitz, 1996). Migration usually occurs over extracellular matrix (ECM), and is accompanied by characteristic morphological changes. Cell protrusions, e.g., filopodia or lamellipodia, are sites where adherence contacts for traction generally are formed. To accomplish forward movement, there must be a balance between the establishment of plasma membrane-ECM adherence contacts at the cell leading edge, and their coordinated, asymmetric release at the cell trailing edge (Huttenlocher et al., 1995). While significant advances have been made in identifying molecules involved in cell migration, molecular mechanisms are poorly defined.