Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Heck JN
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3386221 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Heck Jessica N JN Ponik Suzanne M SM Garcia-Mendoza Maria G MG Pehlke Carolyn A CA Inman David R DR Eliceiri Kevin W KW Keely Patricia J PJ
Molecular biology of the cell 20120516 13
Breast epithelial cells sense the stiffness of the extracellular matrix through Rho-mediated contractility. In turn, matrix stiffness regulates RhoA activity. However, the upstream signaling mechanisms are poorly defined. Here we demonstrate that the Rho exchange factor GEF-H1 mediates RhoA activation in response to extracellular matrix stiffness. We demonstrate the novel finding that microtubule stability is diminished by a stiff three-dimensional (3D) extracellular matrix, which leads to the a ...[more]