Figure 4. Syndecan-1 mediated cell adhesion to laminin 332 LG45 domain. (A) Fibrosarcoma HT1080 cells were plated on surfaces coated with purified LG45 domain for 1 h, fixed and stained with phalloidin-FITC. The analysis of the actin staining revealed an organization of the cytoskeleton in radial arrays of microspikes, protrusive adhesion structures known to be involved in transient cell-substratum interactions. (B) Confocal image of HT1080 cells expressing GFP-syndecan-1 plated on the LG45 domain. The phase contrast image shows the typical induced cell shape characterized by the formation of spike-like actin-based protrusive structures. The receptor syndecan-1 (green) promotes cell adhesion to the laminin fragment and aligns along the actin filaments, which are organized into parallel bundles. Bars, 10 µm.