Migration is less persistent with β1 integrin (top) than with β3 integrin (bottom).

Danen et al. (page 515) show that β1 and β3 integrins direct different types of motility, despite binding fibronectin with similar efficiencies. Cells expressing β1 integrin move in a random manner, whereas cells with β3 integrin expression move in a persistent fashion. The proteins control cell migration by altering the activities of the Rho GTPases RhoA and Rac, which in turn control three aspects of motility: lamellipodia formation; cytoskeletal polarization; and the dynamics of cell matrix adhesions.

The types of integrins expressed and their relative abundance change during dynamic processes such as wound healing and development. To understand the function of these shifts, Danen et al. studied GE11 cells that lack β1 and express trace amounts of β3. Previous work demonstrated these cells don't migrate well in a wound-healing assay....

The Rockefeller University Press
2005
The Rockefeller University Press
2005
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