Figure 1.

Roles of fascin in the maturation, migration, and antigen presentation of normal DCs. Fascin is barely expressed, if at all, in immature DCs and is induced during their maturation, leading to dynamic assembly of veil-like membrane protrusions, breakdown of podosomes, and migration to lymph nodes. This process results in an increased number of DCs migrating to lymph nodes. Mature DCs lacking fascin exhibit lower membrane activity, undecomposed podosomes, and a thinner and more widely distributed morphology. Transfection of fascin protein restores fascin expression, decomposes podosomes, and enhances DC migration.