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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...
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.
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,...
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...
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...
T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection01:22

T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection

T cells are integral to our adaptive immune system, recognizing and effectively responding to foreign antigens. T cell activation and clonal selection are pivotal in orchestrating this immune response. This article elucidates these mechanisms, detailing the roles of cluster of differentiation (CD) markers, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, costimulatory signals, and the process of clonal selection.
Naive T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen express two primary CD...

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

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Published on: April 23, 2017

Enhanced cellular sensitivity from partitioning the integrin receptors into multiple clusters.

Federico Felizzi1, Dagmar Iber

  • 1Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland. federico.felizzi@bsse.ethz.ch

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
|February 16, 2013
PubMed
Summary

Integrins, crucial cell receptors, self-organize into clusters to accurately sense the extracellular environment. This clustering mechanism, governed by stochastic processes, is vital for multicellular organism development and function.

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09:14

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Published on: June 13, 2014

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Area of Science:

  • Cell biology
  • Biophysics
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Integrins are vital cell surface receptors mediating cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions.
  • Integrin clustering is a dynamic process influenced by extracellular matrix ligand concentration and affinity.
  • The spatial organization of integrin clusters is critical for cellular functions like adhesion, migration, proliferation, and apoptosis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the biophysical mechanisms underlying integrin self-organization into clusters.
  • To quantify the relationship between integrin clustering and environmental sensing accuracy.
  • To develop a framework for analyzing the stochastic processes governing integrin cluster formation.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized principles of statistical physics and information theory.
  • Developed entropy measures to analyze the separation of stochastic processes.
  • Modeled integrin clustering as a doubly stochastic process.

Main Results:

  • Demonstrated that integrin clustering follows a doubly stochastic process controlling cluster number and density.
  • Quantified how the number and size of integrin clusters vary with ligand concentration and affinity.
  • Showcased a direct correlation between integrin self-organization and enhanced environmental sensing.

Conclusions:

  • Integrin self-organization into multiple clusters is a key mechanism for precise extracellular environment sensing.
  • The stochastic nature of integrin clustering provides robustness and accuracy in cellular signaling.
  • Understanding integrin clustering dynamics offers insights into developmental biology and disease states.