... of pancreatic tumours is extensive fibrosis and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM). While pancreatic cancer cells are programmed by stimuli derived from a stiff ECM, metastasis requires loss of attachment and adaptation to a softer microenvironment at distant sites. Growing evidence suggests that stiff...

... plasticity and self-renewal activity. Adhesion of basal cells to laminin α5-containing matrix controls their function by directing them towards a luminal cell fate. Mammary epithelium Progenitor activity Cell identity Adhesion Extracellular matrix Basement membrane Laminin Academy...

...Vinay Kumar Dubey; Souradeep R. Sarkar; Vairavan Lakshmanan; Rimple Dalmeida; Akash Gulyani; Dasaradhi Palakodeti ABSTRACT Extracellular matrix (ECM) is an important component of stem cell niche. Remodeling of ECM mediated by ECM regulators, such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) plays a vital...

...Xuekai Xiong; Weini Li; Jin Nam; Meng Qu; Steve A. Kay; Ke Ma ABSTRACT The circadian clock is entrained to daily environmental cues. Integrin-linked signaling via actin cytoskeleton dynamics transduces physical niche cues from the extracellular matrix to myocardin-related transcription factor (MRTF...

... by either cell–extracellular matrix adhesion or cell–cell adhesion, and both the mechanisms and consequences of inter-tissue adhesion have been studied in vivo in numerous vertebrate and invertebrate species. In this Review, we discuss recent progress in understanding the many functions of inter-tissue...

...John Hellicar; Nicola L. Stevenson; David J. Stephens; Martin Lowe ABSTRACT The biomechanical and biochemical properties of connective tissues are determined by the composition and quality of their extracellular matrix. This, in turn, is highly dependent on the function and organisation...

.... Introducing leukocytes into the vessels allowed real-time visualization of all different steps of the leukocyte transmigration cascade, including migration into the extracellular matrix. Individual cell tracking over time distinguished striking differences in migratory behaviour between T-cells...

... the possible synergistic effects of different extracellular matrix components, and might have important roles in cell adhesion and migration in vivo. In particular, since formation of filopodia has been shown to correlate with cancer cell metastasis ( Arjonen et al., 2011 ; Jacquemet et al., 2015 ), our...

...Wenting Bu; Zarina Levitskaya; Suet-Mien Tan; Yong-Gui Gao ABSTRACT Integrin-mediated cell–extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions play crucial roles in a broad range of physiological and pathological processes. Kindlins are important positive regulators of integrin activation. The FERM-domain...

... and provide a first step for the development of a generative model of FN networks to unravel assembly mechanisms and investigate the physical and functional versatility of extracellular matrix landscapes. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper...

... and truncated EGFR transcriptionally represses integrins via a SHC–MEK signaling axis, and communicates with neighboring cells through TNFα to promote cooperative invasion. Cancer Extracellular matrix Adhesion Invasion Although the prevalence of brain tumors is below that of other tumor types...

... into tumour–microenvironment interactions have led to ideas on targeting it as treatments. Microenvironment Cancer Extracellular matrix Mechanobiology Signalling In tissue biology, the terms stroma or microenvironment have been used to distinguish supporting tissue from the parenchyma...

...Marilyn Janice Oentaryo; Anna Chung-Kwan Tse; Chi Wai Lee ABSTRACT Agrin is a crucial factor that induces postsynaptic differentiation at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs), but how secreted agrin is locally deposited in the context of extracellular matrix (ECM) environment and its function...

... of endothelial damage. This introduces a novel control over VWF function. Weibel–Palade bodies von Willebrand Factor Extracellular matrix RGS4 Constitutive secretion Endothelial von Willebrand factor (VWF) plays several roles in haemostasis. This is reflected not only in its central role...

...Joseph H. McCarty ABSTRACT Cells must interpret a complex milieu of extracellular cues to modulate intracellular signaling events linked to proliferation, differentiation, migration and other cellular processes. Integrins are heterodimeric transmembrane proteins that link the extracellular matrix...

...Olivia R. Grafinger; Genya Gorshtein; Tyler Stirling; Megan I. Brasher; Marc G. Coppolino ABSTRACT Malignant cancer cells can invade extracellular matrix (ECM) through the formation of F-actin-rich subcellular structures termed invadopodia. ECM degradation at invadopodia is mediated by matrix...

...José C. Pastor-Pareja ABSTRACT The evolution of basement membranes (BMs) played an essential role in the organization of animal cells into tissues and diversification of body plans. The archetypal BM is a compact extracellular matrix polymer containing laminin, nidogen, collagen IV and perlecan...

..., and this correlated with a lack of expression of fibulin-1: an extracellular matrix co-factor for ADAMTS-1 that is known to inhibit migration. These findings support the notion that ADAMTS-1 and syndecan-4 are functionally interconnected in regulating cell migration and angiogenesis, via collaboration with MMP9...

... of Biologists Ltd 2019 http://www.biologists.com/user-licence-1-1/ Highlighted Article: Matrix stiffness modulates OSCC cell migration similarly to that of other epithelial carcinomas but by using a different focal-adhesion-mediated mechanism. Cancer Extracellular matrix Elasticity...

...Aaron L. Fidler; Sergei P. Boudko; Antonis Rokas; Billy G. Hudson ABSTRACT The cellular microenvironment, characterized by an extracellular matrix (ECM), played an essential role in the transition from unicellularity to multicellularity in animals (metazoans), and in the subsequent evolution...