The healing power of Ron

A blood-localized growth factor hastens wound healing by pulling an integrin switcharoo on skin cells. The exchange, shown by Massimo Santoro (University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy) and colleagues, both releases adhered cells and promotes migration.

Skin cells stick to the basement membrane through hemidesmosome (HD)-localized integrin α₆β₄. Santoro et al. show that the MSP growth factor releases α₆β₄ from HDs and activates a migratory integrin, α₃β₁, instead. Binding of MSP to its tyrosine kinase receptor, Ron, led to phosphorylation of both Ron and α₆β₄, which introduced binding sites for 14-3-3 scaffolding proteins into both proteins. Through typical 14-3-3 dimerization, the phosphorylation thus creates a complex containing Ron and α₆β₄.

MSP-induced Ron/integrin complexes were seen at the leading...