Figure 6.

A model for the role of transmembrane protein 2 (TMEM2) in integrin-mediated cell adhesion and migration. Our results suggest that TMEM2-dependent degradation of hyaluronan (HA) is critical for cells to form strong cell–matrix adhesion on HA-rich extracellular matrix (ECM). A, high levels of HA in the ECM are inhibitory to the direct engagement of integrins to their ECM ligands. B, in the presence of TMEM2, HA in the ECM is locally removed, which generates a microenvironment that is permissible to the direct integrin–ECM engagement. C, the association between TMEM2 and integrins promotes the FA formation and maturation via further removal of HA in the vicinity of the integrin–ECM engagement. D, this in turn facilitates integrin clustering, integrin-mediated downstream signaling, and cellular responses. See the text for further discussion.