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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Mol Cancer Res. 2014 Jun 24;12(10):1416–1429. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-13-0629

Figure 6. Proposed model for influence of adhesion strength on cell invasion.

Figure 6

We propose a model for cell invasion that involves a balance between formation and turnover of cell adhesions. (A) With little to no cell adhesion to the substrate, extrusion of the cell body through a confined space is not possible. (B) With an optimal balance between adhesion and detachment, as is the case with the relatively labile CD44-HA interaction, cells have the highest invasion potential. (C) When abundant integrin-based adhesion is present, the cells spread extensively and adhere robustly on the substrate but do not invade.