Integrins extended form

In a first experiment with fibroblasts in culture, an extended 73-nm-spaced pattern was compared with a 2-pm-patterned 58-nm array. Although the total nanoparticle density of the micropatterned surface was considerably lower than that of the homogeneously coated one, the cells could only form FAs on 58-nm-spaced RGD motives. It is thus obvious that integrin function critically depends on the spatial confinement of integrins to favour clustering but not on the total number of bound integrins [82],... 

Mesenchymal cells are spherical when in suspension and form stable protrusions only upon attachment to a surface [15]. The cells can adhere tightly to the substratum in tissue culture utilizing structures termed focal adhesions [26]. Upon extension of a lamellipod, close contacts to the substratum form, which then convert into localized adhesive clusters that can be detected using interference reflection microscopy [107, 166], These focal contacts have clusters of transmembrane proteins termed integrins that bind to extracellular matrix molecules and link intracellularly to the actin cytoskeleton to form stress fibers [251]. Adhesion to the substratum is necessary for stabilization of the lamellipod if a lamellipod extends over a nonadhesive surface, it then retracts [14],... 

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