Figure 2.

Drug-induced stabilization of the cytoskeleton dramatically increases attachment strength. (A) Plot of the effects of drug treatment on attachment strength of HT1080 cells to fibronectin in PBS+MgCa. DTSSP was used to cross-link integrins to fibronectin. To stabilize the cytoskeleton phalloidin oleate was used (PO, third bar) and cytochalasin D (cytD, fourth bar) was used to destabilize the cytoskeleton. (#) indicates attachment strength below measurement threshold.^∗p < 0.01, ^∗∗p < 0.001. (B and C) Representative fluorescence images showing DNA (blue), actin (red), and paxillin (green) indicate that DTSSP-treated cells detach similar to untreated cells by leaving paxillin but not actin behind (B) and that PO-treated cells leave paxillin as well as actin behind after detachment (C). To see this figure in color, go online.