The extracellular matrix and ciliary signaling

The matrix reorganized: extracellular matrix remodeling and integrin signaling.

Via integrins, cells can sense dimensionality and other physical and biochemical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Cells respond differently to two-dimensional substrates and three-dimensional environments, activating distinct signaling pathways for each. Direct integrin signaling and indirect integrin modulation of growth factor and other intracellular signaling pathways regulate E...

Irritable walls: the plant extracellular matrix and signaling.

The plant cell wall is a dynamic network of carbohydrates and proteins of enormous structural complexity that plays crucial roles in all aspects of plant life. Advances in molecular physiology and genetics have shed light on the relations between structure and function of various cell wall constituents. The application of compounds interfering with plant cell wall structure and biosynthesis as ...

Bidirectional extracellular matrix signaling during tissue morphogenesis.

Normal tissue development and function are regulated by the interplay between cells and their surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM provides biochemical and mechanical contextual information that is conveyed from the cell membrane through the cytoskeleton to the nucleus to direct cell phenotype. Cells, in turn, remodel the ECM and thereby sculpt their local microenvironment. Here we r...

The Extracellular Domain of Smoothened Regulates Ciliary Localization and Is Required for High-Level Hh Signaling

Members of the Hedgehog (Hh) family of secreted proteins function as morphogens to pattern developing tissues and control cell proliferation. The seven-transmembrane domain (7TM) protein Smoothened (Smo) is essential for the activation of all levels of Hh signaling. However, the mechanisms by which Smo differentially activates low- or high-level Hh signaling are not known. Here we show that a n...

Editorial: Brain Extracellular Space: Geometry, Matrix and Physiological Importance