“…The endocytosis and trafficking of ECM receptors, particularly that of the integrins, have been studied extensively and are known to play important roles in cytokinesis and cell migration (Caswell et al, 2009). Among ECM molecules, fibronectin, collagen-I and vitronectin have been reported to undergo endocytosis, with internalization mediated, in part, by the integrins (Madsen et al, 2011;Memmo and McKeown-Longo, 1998;Shi et al, 2010;Shi and Sottile, 2008;Sottile and Chandler, 2005). However, the endocytosis and trafficking of laminins and other basement membrane proteins is not understood at the level of mediators, pathways or biological significance, despite these being crucial structural and signaling molecules that contact the majority of cells in metazoans (Yurchenco, 2011).…”