Professor Bianxiao Cui, Department of Chemistry, Stanford University

Membrane curvature drives integrin-mediated cell adhesion and mechanotransduction

Membrane curvature in the range of tens to hundreds of nanometers is involved in many essential cellular processes. Membrane curvatures in living cells are often below optical resolution and are highly dynamics, making it a technical challenge to explore curvature-initiated signaling events. We use nanofabrication to engineer vertical nanostructures to precisely manipulate the location, degree, and sign (positive or negative) of the interface curvature in live cells. We found that these membrane curvatures drastically affect intracellular signaling on the plasma membrane. Very recently, we found that membrane curvature promotes the formation of a new type of integrin ɑVβ5-mediated cell adhesions – curved adhesions. Curved adhesions are molecularly distinct from focal adhesions and clathrin lattices and are prevalent in soft fiber matrices in 3D. The findings illustrate molecular basis for the strong molecular connection between membrane topography and intracellular signaling.