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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jan 31.
Published in final edited form as: Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2014 Dec 3;59:111–115. doi: 10.1016/j.biocel.2014.11.007

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Adhesions and Rho organize along collagen fibers. A–D) MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cells transfected with β1 integrin-GFP, or GFP as a control were cultured in 3D collagen gels. Note that the β1 integrin-GFP organizes along collagen fibers in a punctate manner. (β1 integrin-GFP courtesy of Dr. Maddy Parsons). Scale bar in B = 10 μm. E) Active Rho organizes along the axis of collagen alignment in vivo. MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cells were stably transfected with the Rho reporter, GFP-RBD, and injected into the mammary fat pad of a nude mouse. Seven days later, cells migrating out on aligned collagen were imaged (short white arrows: collagen). While the reporter is typically diffuse in cells, it localizes to sites of Rho activation. Inset: GFP-RBD localizes to a cell protrusion along the axis of collagen alignment (yellow arrows). Scale bar in E = 30 μm