| Summary: | A central process in connective tissue homeostasis is cell migration, which involves dynamic interactions between focal adhesions, the actin cytoskeleton and mitochondria, but the role of focal adhesion proteins in cell migration is not wholly defined. We examined focal adhesion-associated proteins from mouse fibroblasts and identified Flightless I (FliI) as a potential focal adhesion protein. We determined that FliI is distributed in the cytosol and co-localizes with actin monomers and mitochondria, but partially with paxillin. Biochemical assays showed that FliI associates with both actin monomers and short oligomers/filaments. Migration assay determined that cells with reduced FliI expression migrated more quickly and that FliI knockdown inhibited activation of β1 integrins. Consistent with these data, cell adhesion assay demonstrated that FliI knockdown cells were less adherent than wildtype cells. Our findings indicate that FliI may regulate cell migration by interacting with the actin monomers and the mitochondria to affect cell adhesion.
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