Vimentin supports directional cell migration by controlling focal adhesions

Abstract

Persistent cell migration requires focal adhesions to assemble and disassemble locally while maintaining global front-rear alignment. The mechanism that enforces this long-range spatial coherence remains unresolved. Here we identify the intermediate filament protein vimentin as a cell-scale organizer that stabilizes focal adhesion alignment during directed fibroblast migration. Using quantitative live-cell imaging, we show that vimentin-deficient fibroblasts lose directional persistence and a complete collapse of global focal adhesion alignment. Quantitative analysis reveals that vimentin stabilizes focal adhesion alignment by constraining angular fluctuations and preserving the periodic bias of adhesion birth across the adhesion field. Loss of vimentin results in smaller, rapidly turning-over adhesions with disrupted orientation. Trajectory analysis reveals a mechanically anchored adhesion state selectively associated with vimentin recruitment, distinguishing mechanical stabilization from biochemical maturation. Super-resolution and iPALM imaging further show that vimentin integrates within the focal adhesion nanoarchitecture near the force-transduction layer. Together, our findings establish that vimentin intermediate filaments impose spatial coherence on adhesion dynamics, converting locally stochastic adhesion assembly, turnover, and disassembly into globally coordinated adhesions and persistent directional migration.