Fibronectin amyloid-like aggregation alters its extracellular matrix incorporation and promotes a single and sparsed cell migration

Abstract

Fibronectin (Fn) is an extracellular matrix (ECM) multifunctional glycoprotein essential for regulating cells behaviors. Within ECM, Fn is found as polymerized fibrils. Apart from fibrils, Fn could also form other kind of supramolecular assemblies such as aggregates. To gain insight into the impact of Fn aggregates on cell behavior, we generated several Fn oligomeric assemblies. These assemblies displayed various amyloid-like properties but were not cytotoxic. In presence of the more amyloid-like structured assemblies of Fn, the cell-ECM networks were altered and the cell shapes shifted toward extended mesenchymal morphologies. Additionnaly, the Fn amyloid-like aggregates promoted a single-cell and sparsed migration of SKOV3 cancer cells, which was associated with a relocalization of αv integrins from plasma membrane to perinuclear vesicles. These data pointed out that the features of supramolecular Fn assemblies could represent a higher level of fine-tuning cell phenotype, and especially migration of cancer cells.