Oktoberfest for adhesion structures

Abstract

The Adhesion Meeting 2005 was organized by S. Linder, R. Fassler, E. Genot and P. Jurdic, and took place in Munich between 28 and 30 April 2005. The booklet of abstracts and a picture gallery of the meeting can be accessed at: www.adhesion‐meeting.com ![][1] Cell motility and tissue invasion depend on the interaction of the cell with its surrounding environment, such as with neighbouring cells, the extracellular matrix (ECM) and even inorganic bone components (for a review, see Geiger et al , 2001). Focal adhesions have long served as a model system to study cell–matrix interactions, but other adhesion structures such as podosomes and invadopodia are made by different cell types and are heterogeneous in their molecular composition, structure and function. This apparent complexity of adhesive structures sparked the first Adhesion Meeting earlier this year. Almost 20 years after the term ‘podosome’ was coined (reviewed in Linder & Aepfelbacher, 2003; Buccione et al , 2004), a lively crowd of international researchers from the different areas of cell adhesion convened in Munich to discuss the similarities and differences of podosomes, invadopodia and focal adhesions (Fig 1). Figure 1. Different types of cell–extracellular matrix contact structures. ( A ) Elongated focal adhesions (FAs) in a stationary adhesive cell. ( B ) Peripheral focal complexes (FXs) and anchoring FAs in a protruding cell. ( C ) Podosomes (yellow) in smooth muscle cells. ( D ) Podosome rosettes (yellow) in epithelial cells. ( E ) Podosomes can aggregate to rings. ( F ) Aggregates of podosome rings can form belt‐like structures. ( G ) Invadopodia (red; arrowheads) in a cell grown on a fluorescent extracellular matrix substrate (green) form preferentially in the centre of the cell. Images were provided by M. Gimona ( A , B , C , E , F ), S. Linder ( D ), and R. Buccione and I. A. Grande ( G ). Focal adhesions mediate the stable attachment of cells … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif