Excitable waves at the margin of the contact area between a cell and a substrate

Integrin-mediated adhesion as self-sustained waves of enzymatic activation

Integrin receptors mediate interaction between the cellular actin-cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix. Based on their activation properties, we propose a reaction-diffusion model where the kinetics of the two-state receptors is modulated by their lipidic environment. This environment serves as an activator variable, while a second variable plays the role of a scaffold protein and controls the self-sustained activation of the receptors. Due to receptor diffusion which couples dynamically the activator and the inhibitor, our model connects major classes of reaction diffusion systems for excitable media. Spot and rosette solutions, characterized by receptor clustering into localized static or dynamic structures, are organized into a phase diagram. It is shown that diffusion and kinetics of receptors determines the dynamics and the stability of these structures. We discuss this model as a precursor model for cell signaling in the context of podosomes forming actoadhesive metastructures, and we study how generic signaling defects influence their organization.

Cooperativity between integrin activation and mechanical stress leads to integrin clustering

Integrins are transmembrane receptors involved in crucial cellular biological functions such as migration, adhesion, and spreading. Upon the modulation of integrin affinity toward their extracellular ligands by cytoplasmic proteins (inside-out signaling) these receptors bind to their ligands and cluster into nascent adhesions. This clustering results in the increase in the mechanical linkage among the cell and substratum, cytoskeleton rearrangements, and further outside-in signaling. Based on experimental observations of the distribution of focal adhesions in cells attached to micropatterned surfaces, we introduce a physical model relying on experimental numerical constants determined in the literature. In this model, allosteric integrin activation works in synergy with the stress build by adhesion and the membrane rigidity to allow the clustering to nascent adhesions independently of actin but dependent on the integrin diffusion onto adhesive surfaces. The initial clustering could provide a template to the mature adhesive structures. Predictions of our model for the organization of focal adhesions are discussed in comparison with experiments using adhesive protein microarrays.