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Cited by 866

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 42 of the 42 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Force Fluctuations within Focal Adhesions Mediate ECM-Rigidity Sensing to Guide Directed Cell Migration

Open access
Plotnikov, Sergey V., Pasapera, Ana M., Sabass, Benedikt, Waterman, Clare M.·2012·Cell

Abstract

Summary Cell migration toward areas of higher extracellular matrix (ECM) rigidity via a process called “durotaxis” is thought to contribute to development, immune response, and cancer metastasis. To understand how cells sample ECM rigidity to guide durotaxis, we characterized cell-generated forces on the nanoscale within single mature integrin-based focal adhesions (FAs). We found that individual FAs act autonomously, exhibiting either stable or dynamically fluctuating (“tugging”) traction. We show that a FAK/phosphopaxillin/vinculin pathway is essential for high FA traction and to enable tugging FA traction over a broad range of ECM rigidities. We show that tugging FA traction is dispensable for FA maturation, chemotaxis, and haptotaxis but is critical to direct cell migration toward rigid ECM. We conclude that individual FAs dynamically sample rigidity by applying fluctuating pulling forces to the ECM to act as sensors to guide durotaxis, and that FAK/phosphopaxillin/vinculin signaling defines the rigidity range over which this dynamic sensing process operates.

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Metadata

Authors
Plotnikov, S. V., Pasapera, A. M., Sabass, B., & Waterman, C. M.
Venue
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-12
Volume
151
Issue
7
Pages
1513-1527
ISSN
0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2116527577
Cited by
866
References
42
FWCI
20.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
bronze

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Force Fluctuations within Focal Adhesions Mediate ECM-Rigidity Sensing to Guide Directed Cell Migration. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1016/j.cell.2012.11.034
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Plotnikov, S. V., Pasapera, A. M., Sabass, B., & Waterman, C. M. (2012). Force Fluctuations within Focal Adhesions Mediate ECM-Rigidity Sensing to Guide Directed Cell Migration. Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2012.11.034

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