title: Integrin-fibronectin interactions at the cell-material interface: initial integrin binding and signaling.
abstract: Integrin receptors mediate cell adhesion to extracellular matrices and provide signals that direct proliferation and differentiation. Integrin binding involves receptor-ligand interactions at the cell-substrate interface and assembly and reorganization of structural and signaling elements at the cytoplasmic face. Using a cross-linking/extraction/reversal method to quantify bound integrins, we demonstrate that the density of alpha5beta1 integrin-fibronectin bonds increases linearly with ligand density, as predicted by simple receptor-ligand equilibrium. This linear relationship is consistent with linear increases in cell adhesion strength with receptor and ligand surface densities. Furthermore, we show that phosphorylation of FAK, a tyrosine kinase involved in early integrin-mediated signaling, increases linearly with the number of integrin-Fn bonds. These linear relationships suggest the absence of cooperative effects in the initial stages of mechanical coupling and adhesion-mediated signaling.
authors.affiliation: Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 30332-0405, USA. andres.garcia@me.gatech.edu
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boettiger
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051417:Focal Adhesion Kinase 1; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D006801:Humans; D016023:Integrins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008024:Ligands; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011485:Protein Binding; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D005353:Fibronectins; D016023:Integrins; D008024:Ligands; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D051417:Focal Adhesion Kinase 1; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C496050:PTK2 protein, human