Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions01:17

Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions

Integrins act both as extracellular input receivers and as intracellular processing activators. As their name suggests, integrins are entirely integrated into the membrane structure. Their hydrophobic membrane-spanning regions interact with the phospholipid bilayer's hydrophobic region. These membrane receptors provide extracellular attachment sites for effectors like hormones and growth factors. They activate intracellular response cascades when their effectors are bound and active.
Some...
Integrins01:10

Integrins

Animal and protozoan cells do not have cell walls to help maintain shape and provide structural stability. Instead, these eukaryotic cells secrete a sticky mass of carbohydrates and proteins into the spaces between adjacent cells. This network of proteins and molecules is called an extracellular matrix or ECM.
Some ECM proteins assemble into a basement membrane to which the remaining components adhere. Proteoglycans typically form the bulk of the ECM while fibrous proteins, like collagen,...
Activation of Integrins01:15

Activation of Integrins

Integrins bind ligands and transmit information from outside the cell to inside or vice-versa through an "outside-in signaling" or "inside-out signaling."
In "outside-in signaling," external factors in the extracellular space bind to exposed ligand binding sites on integrins. This causes the inactive protein to undergo a conformational change to become active. Integrins are often clustered on the cell membrane. Repetitive and regularly spaced ligand binding events provide an effective stimulus.
Selectins01:25

Selectins

Cell adhesion is  an essential aspect of multicellularity. While stable cell interactions usually occur between cells of the same type, transient cell interactions occur between cells of different tissue types, such as between neutrophils and endothelial cells. Selectins are one class of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) that bind carbohydrate ligands to form transient cell adhesion. They are rod-like proteins with a long extracellular part of variable length ending with the lectin domain, which...
Anchoring Junctions01:03

Anchoring Junctions

Anchoring junctions are multiprotein complexes that help cells connect to other cells and the extracellular matrix. Anchoring junctions are present on the lateral and basal surfaces of cells, providing strong and flexible connections. Focal adhesions are often formed due to cell interactions with the ECM substrata, which initiate signal transduction via kinase cascades and other mechanisms. Together, they provide stability and tissue integrity. There are three types of anchoring junctions:...
Immunoglobulin-like Cell Adhesion Molecules01:31

Immunoglobulin-like Cell Adhesion Molecules

Immunoglobulin-like cell adhesion molecules or Ig-CAMs are a versatile group of cell surface glycoproteins belonging to the immunoglobulin protein superfamily. Ig-CAMs possess the characteristic immunoglobulin protein domains and other domains such as the fibronectin type III domain. The Ig domains are glycosylated to varying degrees in different Ig-CAMs.
Ig-CAMs exhibit either homophilic binding (to other Ig-CAMs) or heterophilic binding (to other ligands such as integrins). While most Ig-CAMs...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

A centrin-Sfi1 myoneme fishnet powers ultrafast calcium-triggered contraction in the giant ciliate <i>Spirostomum ambiguum</i>.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Adaptive Tensor Train Metadynamics for High-Dimensional Free Energy Exploration.

Journal of chemical theory and computation·2026
Same author

An underlying bistability sets amplitude and explains temperature compensation in the cyanobacterial circadian clock.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

The scientific legacy of Martin Karplus from the perspective of his collaborators.

Biophysical journal·2026
Same author

Chronic infections can generate SARS-CoV-2-like bursts of viral evolution without epistasis.

Virus evolution·2026
Same author

Light-induced assembly and repeatable actuation in Ca<sup>2+</sup>-driven chemomechanical protein networks.

Nature communications·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Static Adhesion Assay for the Study of Integrin Activation in T Lymphocytes
09:14

Static Adhesion Assay for the Study of Integrin Activation in T Lymphocytes

Published on: June 13, 2014

How focal adhesion size depends on integrin affinity.

Tong Zhao1, Ying Li, Aaron R Dinner

  • 1Department of Chemistry, Department of Physics, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|January 10, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Cellular sensing of physical cues involves integrin receptor binding and clustering, impacting focal adhesion formation. A kinetic Monte Carlo model explains how higher affinity ligands lead to smaller focal adhesions.

More Related Videos

Adhesion Frequency Assay for In Situ Kinetics Analysis of Cross-Junctional Molecular Interactions at the Cell-Cell Interface
13:22

Adhesion Frequency Assay for In Situ Kinetics Analysis of Cross-Junctional Molecular Interactions at the Cell-Cell Interface

Published on: November 2, 2011

Ligand Nano-cluster Arrays in a Supported Lipid Bilayer
10:34

Ligand Nano-cluster Arrays in a Supported Lipid Bilayer

Published on: April 23, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Static Adhesion Assay for the Study of Integrin Activation in T Lymphocytes
09:14

Static Adhesion Assay for the Study of Integrin Activation in T Lymphocytes

Published on: June 13, 2014

Adhesion Frequency Assay for In Situ Kinetics Analysis of Cross-Junctional Molecular Interactions at the Cell-Cell Interface
13:22

Adhesion Frequency Assay for In Situ Kinetics Analysis of Cross-Junctional Molecular Interactions at the Cell-Cell Interface

Published on: November 2, 2011

Ligand Nano-cluster Arrays in a Supported Lipid Bilayer
10:34

Ligand Nano-cluster Arrays in a Supported Lipid Bilayer

Published on: April 23, 2017

Area of Science:

  • Cellular mechanotransduction and biophysics
  • Integrin signaling and focal adhesion dynamics

Background:

  • Cellular responses to physical cues are mediated by integrin receptor binding and clustering.
  • Focal adhesions are crucial for cells to sense and respond to their environment.
  • Previous studies show higher affinity ligands result in smaller focal adhesion sizes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To model the thermodynamics and kinetics of integrin receptor binding and clustering.
  • To understand the impact on focal adhesion formation and cellular mechanosensing.
  • To account for the observed trend of smaller focal adhesions with higher affinity ligands.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a simplified model treating integrins as particles on a lattice.
  • Simulated stochastic dynamics using a kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm.
  • Analyzed the influence of force-coupled growth, membrane fluctuations, and interaction heterogeneity.

Main Results:

  • The model successfully accounts for the observed trend of smaller focal adhesions with higher affinity ligands.
  • Investigated the dependence of this trend on various biophysical factors.
  • Generated predictions for experimental validation on substrates with spatially or temporally varying ligands.

Conclusions:

  • The kinetic Monte Carlo model provides a framework for understanding integrin-ligand interactions in focal adhesion formation.
  • Thermodynamics and kinetics play critical roles in cellular responses to physical cues.
  • The model offers testable predictions for future experimental investigations in cell adhesion and mechanobiology.