Fig. 7. Model of pericellular fibronectin and fibrillin-1 assembly. Diagram illustrating how fibronectin and 5β1 integrin may contribute to fibrillin-1 microfibril assembly. The model predicts that activated 5β1 integrin and associated cytoskeletal changes drive fibronectin fibrillogenesis, which in turn facilitates the deposition of extensive microfibril arrays. Although fibrillin-1 may associate with pericellular fibronectin even when fibronectin cannot assemble through 5β1 (Takahashi et al., 2007), in these conditions there is little microfibril assembly (see Figs 4, 6).