Figure 7: Timed invasion, cell cycle regulation and laminin/integrin interactions initiate, expand and stabilize BM breaches.
From: Cell division and targeted cell cycle arrest opens and stabilizes basement membrane gaps
Schematic diagram depicting a model for initiation, opening and stabilization of the BM gap during uterine–vulval attachment. During the mid-L3 stage at the P6.p four-cell stage the D cells exit the cell cycle and increased laminin accumulates at the BM gap edge. In the early L4 stage the interior E and F cells divide, reduce contact with the BM, and the BM gap widens, driven by forces from the invaginating vulval cells that shift the BM freed from the dividing vulval cells. In the mid-L4 stage, laminin directs integrin to the gap edge, stabilizing the BM gap over the post-mitotic D cells.
