Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 19, 2025

Visualizing Adhesion Formation in Cells by Means of Advanced Spinning Disk-Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: January 21, 2019
Visualizing the 'backbone' of focal adhesions
Samuel F H Barnett1, Pakorn Kanchanawong1,2
1Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117411.
Abstract:
To understand how complex machines perform their functions, it is essential to map out the 'blueprints' of how their internal components are organized. Focal adhesions (FAs) are complex mechanobiological structures involved in a plethora of cell biological processes. The application of super-resolution microscopy in concert with protein engineering offers one approach to unravel the complexity of how individual proteins are organized within FAs. In our recent application, the FA protein talin was found to form a direct structural and physical link between integrin and actin. Interestingly, engineered talin constructs with alternate lengths rescaled the FA nanostructure accordingly. This helped establish that talin could be analogous to the backbone of FAs, serving as the mechanosensitive master coordinator of FA structural organization.
More Related Videos
08:02Using Microfluidics and Fluorescence Microscopy to Study the Assembly Dynamics of Single Actin Filaments and Bundles
Published on: May 5, 2022
10:57Examining the Dynamics of Cellular Adhesion and Spreading of Epithelial Cells on Fibronectin During Oxidative Stress
Published on: October 13, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...
Anchoring Junctions
Tension Response at Adherens Junctions
α-Catenin as a Mechanosensory Protein
The α-catenin of adherens junctions is an allosteric protein with three VH (vinculin...
Adherens Junctions
Adherens Junctions are Dynamic
Cell-matrix's Response to Mechanical Forces
Anchoring junctions mechanically attach a cell to the...
Activation of Integrins
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...