Regulation of cell dynamics by rapid transport of integrins through the biosynthetic pathway

Abstract

Cells sense and respond to the extracellular matrix (ECM) milieu through integrin proteins. Integrin availability on the plasma membrane, regulated by endosomal receptor uptake and recycling, has been extensively studied and regulates cell dynamics in various normal and pathological contexts1–5. In contrast, the role of integrin transport through the biosynthetic pathway has been considered primarily as a mechanism to replenish the receptor pool and too slow to influence cell dynamics6. Here, we adopted the RUSH (Retention Using Selective Hooks) assay to synchronize integrin anterograde transport from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), allowing spatial and temporal analysis of newly synthesized receptor traffic. We observe that the delivery of new integrins to the plasma membrane is polarized in response to specific ECM ligands, facilitates integrin recruitment specifically to the membrane-proximal tip of focal adhesions (FA) and contributes to cell protrusion and FA growth. We explain the augmented adhesion growth using a computational molecular clutch model7, where increased integrin availability drives recruitment of additional integrins. Notably, a subset of newly synthesized integrins undergo rapid traffic from the ER to the cell surface to facilitate localized cell spreading, seemingly bypassing the Golgi. This unconventional secretion is dependent on cell adhesion and mediated by Golgi reassembling stacking proteins (GRASPs) association with the PDZ-binding motif in the integrin α5 cytoplasmic tail. This spatially targeted delivery of integrins through the biosynthetic pathway may propel cell dynamics by rapidly altering adhesion receptor availability, providing cells with an additional degree of plasticity to respond to their environment.