Cell shape control, spreading and migration – important cellular processes that underlie many physiological functions – are driven in part by the formation of focal adhesions (FAs) at the cell periphery. Many endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteins colocalise with FAs. Here (p. 3901), Hanry Yu and colleagues provide new insights into the mechanism that drives this colocalisation and the ER's effect on FA dynamics. They show that the interaction between kinectin (an integral ER membrane protein that extends the ER along microtubules) and kinesin (the motor protein involved in plus-end-directed transport along microtubules) mediates ER extension into the cellular lamella and ER colocalisation with FAs in HeLa cells. Functional impairment of the kinectin–kinesin interaction reduces the number of FAs formed within the cellular lamella, and results in a morphological change to a rounded cell shape, and reduced cell spreading and migration. Finally, whereas microtubules alone facilitate FA disassembly, the authors...

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