Probing invadosomes: technologies for the analysis of invadosomes

Invadosomes are protrusive and mechanosensitive actin devices critical for cell migration, invasion, and extracellular matrix remodeling. The dynamic, proteolytic, and protrusive natures of invadosomes have made these structures fascinating and attracted many scientists to develop new technologies for their analysis. With these exciting methodologies, many biochemical and biophysical properties of invadosomes have been well characterized and appreciated, and those discoveries elegantly explained the biological and pathological effects of invadosomes in human health and diseases. In this review, we focus on these commonly used or newly developed methods for invadosome analysis and effort to reason some discrepancies among those assays. Finally, we explore the opposite regulatory mechanisms among invadosomes and focal adhesions, another actin-rich adhesive structures, and speculate a potential rule for their switch.

Automated summary

Invadosomes are critical actin structures for cell migration, invasion, and extracellular matrix remodeling, with their dynamic, proteolytic, and protrusive nature attracting scientists to develop new technologies for analysis. Through exciting methodologies, researchers have well characterized the biochemical and biophysical properties of invadosomes, elegantly explaining their biological and pathological effects on human health and diseases. The opposite regulatory mechanisms between invadosomes and focal adhesions have been explored, with speculation on a potential rule for their switching mechanism.