Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41042864›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

Mechanochemical waves in focal adhesions during cell migration.

Marc A Fernández-Yagüe, Elijah N Marquez, Chetan S Poojari, Jianping Fu, Yingxiao Wang, Aránzazu Del Campo, Andrés J García

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Marc A Fernández-YagüePetit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4062-8906
Elijah N MarquezPetit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Chetan S PoojariTheoretical Physics and Center for Biophysics, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-6575-221X
Jianping FuDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9629-6739
Yingxiao WangAlfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0265-326X
Aránzazu Del CampoINM - Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-5725-2135
Andrés J GarcíaPetit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6602-2518

Funding

Acoustothermogenetics for Cell EngineeringR35GM140929 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI WANG, YINGXIAO · 2021 to 2025
$2.9M
Mechanosensing in lung fibrosisR01HL175067 · NHLBI · GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI Andres J Garcia · 2024 to 2026
$1.6M
Mechanosensing at Focal AdhesionsR01EB024322 · NIBIB · GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI GARCIA, ANDRES J · 2018 to 2022
$1.3M
NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL175067NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB024322NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM140929
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Focal adhesions (FAs) are dynamic structures central to cell migration, serving as mechanotransduction sites linking the extracellular matrix (ECM) to intracellular signaling pathways such as FA kinase (FAK). How FAK becomes activated in response to cell-ECM adhesive forces at single FAs to facilitate directional motion is poorly understood. Using micropillar-based force microscopy and FA-targeted FRET biosensors, we monitored real-time traction forces and FAK activity at individual FAs during assembly and disassembly. Our results demonstrate oscillatory temporal coupling of traction force and FAK activity in high-tension FAs before FA disassembly. Cross-correlation analyses revealed that force precedes FAK activation, guiding FA turnover. Atomistic molecular simulations unveiled a force-induced mechanism where traction forces disrupt autoinhibitory FERM-kinase interactions in FAK, enabling catalytic activity without structural unfolding. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into the spatiotemporal integration of mechanical forces and biochemical signaling in cell migration.

Indexed as

Cell MovementFocal AdhesionsMechanotransduction, CellularAnimalsExtracellular MatrixFluorescence Resonance Energy TransferFocal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine KinasesHumansMolecular Dynamics SimulationSignal TransductionFocal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases

Identifiers

PMID41042864
PMCPMC12494029

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.