EGF receptor-mediated fibroblast signaling and motility : role of nanoscale spatial ligand organization

Cell motility is often governed by growth factor receptor and integrin adhesion receptor interactions with the extracellular environment followed by collaborative intracellular signaling. While integrin ligands are necessarily bound within the extracellular matrix to permit force transduction by the cell, the canonical view of growth factors is of soluble molecules freely diffusible and internalizable by the cell. Recent evidence suggests that in some cases growth factor receptor ligands may be embedded in the extracellular matrix and may signal primarily from the cell surface. By altering the trafficking of receptor and ligand, the potential exists to change the spatiotemporal distribution of signaling within the cell. These changes in the magnitude, duration, and spatial localization of specific signals influence the biophysical regulation of cell migration, which is a multi-step process directed by a number of timely and spatially coordinated signaling events. In this work, we develop a polymer incorporating both growth factors and adhesion molecules with nanoscale spatial ligand control to model matrix-embedded ligand presentation.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Richardson, Llewellyn B. (Llewellyn Bentley)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Linda G. Griffith.

• Chemical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/34161
• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/34161

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34161