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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

In vitro Cell Migration and Invasion Assays
09:55

In vitro Cell Migration and Invasion Assays

Published on: June 1, 2014

Integrin trafficking and the control of cell migration

Patrick T Caswell1, Jim C Norman

  • 1Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Cancer Research UK, Garscube Estate, Glasgow.

Traffic (Copenhagen, Denmark)
|February 1, 2006
PubMed

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the observation that certain integrin heterodimers are continually internalized from the plasma membrane into endosomal compartments and subsequently recycled back to the cell surface indicated that the endocytic and recycling pathways have the potential to exert minute-to-minute control over integrin function. This insight has prompted others to study the regulation of integrin trafficking in more detail. This review aims to summarize the findings of studies revealing the molecular mechanisms controlling integrin traffic, particularly those providing indications as to how these processes contribute to cell migration and tumour cell invasiveness.

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