The cancer glycocalyx mechanically primes integrin-mediated growth and survival.

ABSTRACT: Malignancy is associated with altered expression of glycans and glycoproteins that contribute to the cellular glycocalyx. We constructed a glycoprotein expression signature, which revealed that metastatic tumours upregulate expression of bulky glycoproteins. A computational model predicted that these glycoproteins would influence transmembrane receptor spatial organization and function. We tested this prediction by investigating whether bulky glycoproteins in the glycocalyx promote a tumour phenotype in human cells by increasing integrin adhesion and signalling. Our data revealed that a bulky glycocalyx facilitates integrin clustering by funnelling active integrins into adhesions and altering integrin state by applying tension to matrix-bound integrins, independent of actomyosin contractil

SUBMITTER: Paszek MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4487551 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature