Contributions of the integrin β1 tail to cell adhesive forces

Integrin receptors connect the extracellular matrix to the cell cytoskeleton to provide essential forces and signals. To examine the contributions of the β1 integrin cytoplasmic tail to adhesive forces, we generated cell lines expressing wild-type and tail mutant β1 integrins in β1-null fibroblasts. Deletion of β1 significantly reduced cell spreading, focal adhesion assembly, and adhesive forces, and expression of human β1 (hβ1) integrin in these cells restored adhesive functions. Cells expressing a truncated tail mutant had impaired spreading, fewer and smaller focal adhesions, reduced integrin binding to fibronectin, and lower adhesion strength and traction forces compared to hβ1-expressing cells. All these metrics were equivalent to those for β1-null cells, demonstrating that the β1 tail is essential to these adhesive functions. Expression of the constitutively-active D759A hβ1 mutant restored many of these adhesive functions in β1-null cells, although with important differences when compared to wild-type β1. Even though there were no differences in integrin-fibronectin binding and adhesion strength between hβ1- and hβ1-D759A-expressing cells, hβ1-D759A-expressing cells assembled more but smaller adhesions than hβ1-expressing cells. Importantly, hβ1-D759A-expressing cells generated lower traction forces compared to hβ1-expressing cells. These differences between hβ1- and hβ1-D759A-expressing cells suggest that regulation of integrin activation is important for fine-tuning cell spreading, focal adhesion assembly, and traction force generation.