Speed from recycling

On page 545, Strachan and Condic show that neural crest cells (NCCs) can be speedy if they remember to recycle receptors. The speed gained from their conservation efforts may expose them to differentiation pathways that other NCCs miss out on.

Populations of NCCs differ in their speed on various matrices. Cranial NCCs, for instance, pick up speed on higher concentrations on laminin, whereas trunk NCCs keep a slow pace. The new results show that the cranial population is able to move quickly because they both recycle and reduce the numbers of their laminin-binding integrin receptors.

More laminin might actually slow cells by promoting strong adhesions. But cranial NCCs avoided this slowdown by removing laminin receptors (integrin α6) from the cell surface. The removed α6 receptors were internalized into recycling endosomes and...