Exosomes are small membrane-bound vesicles that released by various types of cells, including cancer and play a role in intercellular communication. CD9 is protein involved cell signaling adhesion. It found on the surface has been implicated communication between cells their microenvironment.

It is now becoming clear that additional transmembrane components can modify integrin-mediated adhesion. Syndecan-4 is a transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan whose external glycosaminoglycan chains can bind extracellular matrix ligands and whose core protein cytoplasmic domain can signal during adhesion. Two papers in this issue of JCS demonstrate, through transfection studies, that synde...

The dynamic regulation of cell-matrix adhesion is essential for tissue homeostasis and architecture, and thus numerous pathologies are linked to altered cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interaction and ECM scaffold. The molecular machinery involved in cell-matrix adhesion is complex and involves both sensory and matrix-remodelling functions. In this review, we focus on how protein conformation c...