Cell adhesion articles within Nature

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synthetic cell adhesion molecules yield customized cell–cell interactions with adhesion properties that are similar to native interactions, and offer abilities for cell and tissue engineering and for systematically studying multicellular organization.

    • Adam J. Stevens
    • , Andrew R. Harris
    •  & Wendell A. Lim

  • Article |

    Optical imaging of single-molecule electrochemical reactions in aqueous solution enables super-resolution electrochemiluminescence microscopy, which can be used to monitor the adhesion dynamics of live cells with high spatiotemporal resolution.

    • Jinrun Dong
    • , Yuxian Lu
    •  & Jiandong Feng

  • Letter |

    The formation of cellular adhesion complexes is important in normal and pathological cell activity, and is determined by the force imposed by the combined effect of the distribution of extracellular matrix molecules and substrate rigidity.

    • Roger Oria
    • , Tina Wiegand
    •  & Pere Roca-Cusachs

  • Article |

    Metastatic cancer cells are shown to have a tendency towards forming a bulky glycocalyx owing to the production of large glycoproteins, and this cancer-associated glycocalyx has a mechanical effect on the spatial organization of integrins — by funnelling integrins into adhesions, integrin clustering and signalling is promoted, which leads to enhanced cell survival and proliferation.

    • Matthew J. Paszek
    • , Christopher C. DuFort
    •  & Valerie M. Weaver

  • Letter |

    Cancer cells often have extra centrosomes, a paradox considering the detrimental effect extra centrosomes usually have on cell division; a study of human cells reveals that extra centrosomes can promote cancer cell invasion phenotypes through a pathway involving increased microtubule nucleation and Rac1 activity.

    • Susana A. Godinho
    • , Remigio Picone
    •  & David Pellman

  • Letter |

    The direction of integrin signalling is found to be determined by the coordinated and opposing binding waves of talin and Gα13 to the same region of the integrin β3 cytoplasmic domain at mutually exclusive but distinct sites, and a potent new anti-thrombotic drug that does not cause bleeding is designed on the basis of these findings.

    • Bo Shen
    • , Xiaojuan Zhao
    •  & Xiaoping Du

  • Letter |

    Naked mole rats seem almost entirely protected from developing cancer, and this can now, at least in part, be explained by the production of a unique high-molecular-mass form of hyaluronan, a component of the extracellular matrix; together with an increased sensitivity of naked mole-rat cells to hyaluronan signalling, this form protects its cells from oncogenic transformation.

    • Xiao Tian
    • , Jorge Azpurua
    •  & Andrei Seluanov

  • Letter |

    Lymphocyte migration in the spleen is visualized live in mice using a real-time two-photon laser-scanning microscopy approach revealing that marginal zone and follicular B cells are highly motile and can shuttle between compartments, and integrin adhesion is the key to cellular retention in the marginal zone.

    • Tal I. Arnon
    • , Robert M. Horton
    •  & Jason G. Cyster

  • Letter |

    Mechanotransduction channels studied to date are mainly involved with sensing noxious mechanical stimuli; here NOMPC, a member of the TRP ion channel family, is identified as a pore-forming subunit of an ion channel essential to the sensation of gentle touch in Drosophila.

    • Zhiqiang Yan
    • , Wei Zhang
    •  & Yuh Nung Jan

  • Letter |

    A combination of structural, computational and biophysical tools is used to characterize the bond between tip-link proteins protocadherin 15 and cadherin 23, which have an essential role in inner-ear mechanotransduction; the bond, involving an extended protein handshake, is found to be affected by deafness mutations and is mechanically strong enough to resist forces in hair cells, adding to our understanding of hair-cell sensory transduction and interactions among cadherins.

    • Marcos Sotomayor
    • , Wilhelm A. Weihofen
    •  & David P. Corey

  • Letter |

    This study describes a mechanotransduction pathway that links the body wall with the epidermis in Caenorhabditis elegans. The pathway involves the p21 activated kinase PAK 1, an adaptor GIT 1 and its partner PIX 1. Tension exerted by muscles or external pressure keeps GIT 1 on station at hemidesmosomes — the small rivet like bodies that attach epidermal cells to the underlying musculature — and stimulates PAK 1 through PIX 1 and Rac GTPase. The C. elegans hemidesmosome is more than a passive attachment structure, therefore, but a sensor that responds to tension by triggering signalling processes.

    • Huimin Zhang
    • , Frédéric Landmann
    •  & Michel Labouesse

  • Letter |

    Focal adhesions link the extracellular matrix by integrin receptors to cytoplasmic actin filaments and are fundamental to human physiology. These authors determine the molecular architecture of focal adhesions by mapping protein organization at the nanoscale level. The results demonstrate that focal adhesions possess a well-organized ultrastructure made up of at least three spatial and functional compartments that mediate their interdependent functions.

    • Pakorn Kanchanawong
    • , Gleb Shtengel
    •  & Clare M. Waterman

  • Letter |

    Here, germ-band extension in Drosophila is studied in which epithelial cells undergo an ordered process of intercalation resulting in tissue extension through remodelling of cell junctions. Cell junction shrinkage is driven by polarized flow of medial Myosin-II pulses towards junctions which organizes the whole process of intercalation. The flow of Myosin II is driven by the polarized distribution of E-cadherin complexes at adherens junctions. Thus, epithelial morphogenesis is driven by polarized contractile actomyosin flows emerging from interactions between E-cadherin and actomyosin networks.

    • Matteo Rauzi
    • , Pierre-François Lenne
    •  & Thomas Lecuit

  • Letter |

    The ability of cells to respond to physical forces is central to development and physiology, but until now it has been difficult to directly measure forces across proteins in vivo. Here, however, a calibrated biosensor is described that can measure forces with high sensitivity across specific proteins in cells. This is applied to the vinculin protein, and a regulatory mechanism is revealed in which the force applied to vinculin determines whether focal adhesions assemble or disassemble.

    • Carsten Grashoff
    • , Brenton D. Hoffman
    •  & Martin A. Schwartz

Browse broader subjects

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Cell adhesion across other nature.com journals