Soluble heparin-binding peptides regulate chemokinesis and cell adhesive forces

School of Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 30332; and Departments of Surgery and Bioengineering, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322 The ability of a soluble heparin-binding peptide sequence derived from fibronectin to modulate the adhesion and chemokinetic migration behavior of arterial smooth muscle cells was assessed using a novel glass microsphere centrifugation assay and automated time-lapse fluorescence videomicroscopy, respectively. Treatment of cells grown on fibronectin-coated substrates with the soluble heparin-binding peptide resulted in the disassembly of focal adhesions, as assessed by immunohistochemical staining. These observations were consistent with an observed dose-dependent two- to fivefold reduction in cell-substrate adhesive strength ( P