Identification of adhesomes in embryonic stem cells

Abstract

Adhesomes plays an important role in cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix. Adhesion of cells to the ECM is regulated by cytoskeletal organization and recruitment of focal adhesions (FA) via integrin binding, thereby allow the cell to respond to its environment. While the adhesome complex in mammalian cells has been well characterized, little is known about them in ES cells. Therefore, in this study, we aim to identify adhesomes in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, comparing them to its fibroblast counterparts, alongside identifying possible adhesome interaction with paxillin in ES cells. The adhesome profile of ES cells obtained in this study has provided certain insights about its cell adhesion and we have postulated that the lack of zyxin may be responsible for cell adhesion in ES cells instead of the presence of decreased levels of other adhesomes in ES cells.