Extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling occurs during normal homeostasis and also plays an important role during development, tissue repair, and in various disease processes. ECM remodeling involves changes in the synthesis, deposition, and degradation of ECM molecules. ECM molecules can be degraded extracellularly, as well as intracellularly following endocytosis. Our data show that the ECM protein fibronectin is an important regulator of ECM remodeling. We previously showed that agents that inhibit the polymerization of fibronectin into ECM fibrils promote the loss of preexisting fibronectin matrix and accelerate fibronectin endocytosis and degradation. In this paper we show that inhibition of fibronectin polymerization leads to the loss of collagen I matrix fibrils and a corresponding increase in the levels of endocytosed collagen I. In contrast, manipulations that stabilize fibronectin matrix fibrils, such as caveolin-1 depletion, stabilize collagen I matrix fibrils and cause a decrease in ECM collagen I endocytosis. Our data also show that endocytosis of ECM collagen I is regulated by both 1 integrins and Endo180/urokinase plasminogen activator associated protein (uPARAP). Unexpectedly, Endo180/uPARAP was also shown to promote the endocytosis of fibronectin from the ECM. These data demonstrate that fibronectin polymerization regulates the remodeling of ECM collagen I, in part, by regulating collagen I endocytosis. Furthermore, these data show that processes that regulate ECM deposition coordinately regulate the removal of proteins from the ECM. These data highlight the complexity of ECM remodeling. This multifaceted regulatory process may be important to ensure tight regulation of ECM fibronectin and collagen I levels. extracellular matrix; integrin; endocytosis; Endo180; urokinase plasminogen activator-associated protein EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX (ECM) remodeling is a critical process that occurs during development and tissue repair. ECM remodeling also occurs in a variety of pathological conditions, such as hypertension, restenosis following angioplasty, heart failure, fibrosis, and cancer (1,4,39,68). ECM synthesis, deposition, and degradation are all components of ECM remodeling. The balance between these processes determines whether net accumulation or loss of ECM occurs. Different ECM proteins, and combinations of proteins, can have distinct effects on the phenotype of cells, affecting such important processes as cell survival, growth, differentiation, and migration (2,42,55,59,64). Additionally, ECM fragments produced by proteolysis can accumulate in vivo and contribute to changes in cell behavior (3,24,44,63). ECM fragments can have properties distinct from the intact parental proteins (8,14,41). Hence, mechanisms that limit the accumulation of ECM fragments are likely to be important for regulating a variety of cell processes.A variety of extracellular proteases regulate ECM degradation. Prominent among these proteases are matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). MMPs are important regulators of cell migration ...