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Myosin II in mechanotransduction: master and commander of cell migration, morphogenesis, and cancer

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Abstract

Mechanotransduction encompasses the role of mechanical forces in controlling cell behavior by activating signal transduction pathways. Most forces at a cellular level are caused by myosin II, which contracts and cross-links actin. Myosin II-dependent forces are transmitted through the actin cytoskeleton to molecular endpoints that promote specific cellular outcomes, e.g., cell proliferation, adhesion, or migration. For example, most adhesive and migratory phenomena are mechanically linked by a molecular clutch comprised of mechanosensitive scaffolds. Myosin II activation and mechanosensitive molecular mechanisms are finely tuned and spatiotemporally integrated to coordinate morphogenetic events during development. Mechanical events dependent on myosin II also participate in tumor cell proliferation, invasion, and metastatic dissemination. Specifically, tumor cells alter the mechanical properties of the microenvironment to create favorable conditions for proliferation and/or dissemination. These observations position myosin II-dependent force generation and mechanotransduction at the crossroads between normal development and cancer.

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Acknowledgments

We apologize for those studies not cited due to space constraints. Also, we are grateful to Professors Michel Labouesse and Francisco Sánchez-Madrid for critical reading of the manuscript. M.V.-M. acknowledges funding from the Ramón y Cajal program (RyC-2010-06094, MINECO, Spain), Grant SAF2011-24953 from the MINECO, Spain, a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (CIG-293719) and a grant from the Fundación Ramón Areces (Spain).

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  1. Universidad Autonoma de Madrid School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, c/Diego de León 62, Madrid, Spain

    Rocío Aguilar-Cuenca, Alba Juanes-García & Miguel Vicente-Manzanares

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  1. Rocío Aguilar-Cuenca
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  2. Alba Juanes-García
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  3. Miguel Vicente-Manzanares
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Correspondence to Miguel Vicente-Manzanares.

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Aguilar-Cuenca, R., Juanes-García, A. & Vicente-Manzanares, M. Myosin II in mechanotransduction: master and commander of cell migration, morphogenesis, and cancer. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 71, 479–492 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-013-1439-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-013-1439-5

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