QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online 23 April 2003
doi: 10.1242/jcs.00445

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jcs.00445v1 116/11/2333    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Na, J. Articles by DeSimone, D. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Na, J. Articles by DeSimone, D. W. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Differential regulation of cell adhesive functions by integrin subunit cytoplasmic tails in vivo

Department of Cell Biology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, PO Box 800732, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: desimone{at}virginia.edu)

Accepted 27 February 2003

Cell adhesion to fibronectin (FN) is crucial for early vertebrate morphogenesis. In Xenopus gastrulae, several distinct integrin-dependent adhesive behaviors can be identified: adhesion of cells to FN, assembly of FN fibrils, and initiation of cell spreading and migration in response to mesoderm inducing signals. We have taken a chimeric integrin approach to investigate the role of the integrin cytoplasmic tail in the specification of these developmentally significant adhesive functions. Cytoplasmic tail-deleted 4 constructs and 4-ectodomain/-cytoplasmic tail chimeras were generated and expressed in whole embryos. Normal gastrula cells lack integrin 4 and, correspondingly, are unable to adhere to the 4 ligand, the V-region of FN. The ability of 4 constructs to promote adhesive behaviors was established by placing tissue explants or dissociated cells on an FN V-region fusion protein that lacks the RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp)/synergy sites or treating whole embryos with antibodies that block endogenous integrin-FN interactions. We found that each 4 cytoplasmic domain deletion mutant and -tail chimera examined could support cell attachment; however, activin induction-dependent cell spreading, mesoderm cell and explant motility, and the ability to assemble FN matrix on the blastocoel roof varied with specific subunit tail sequences. These data suggest that cytoplasmic tail signaling and changes in integrin activation state can regulate a variety of developmentally significant adhesive behaviors in both space and time.

Key words: Integrin, Cell migration, Cell adhesion, Xenopus, Fibronectin

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. A. Kragtorp and J. R. Miller Regulation of somitogenesis by Ena/VASP proteins and FAK during Xenopus development Development, February 15, 2006; 133(4): 685 - 695. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Huang, L. C. Bridges, and J. M. White Selective Modulation of Integrin-mediated Cell Migration by Distinct ADAM Family Members Mol. Biol. Cell, October 1, 2005; 16(10): 4982 - 4991. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]