Adherens junction
Adherens Junctions are a type of intracellular junction, likning the actin cytoskeleton of cells together[1]. They are points of attachment that hep to provide strength and respond to mechanical pressure changes[2]. This kind of junctions are specialized for adhesions between cell and extraceullular matrix, as well as adhesions between cells. Most easily seen in epithelial cells.
Structure
Adherens junctions are cadherin-mediated adhesive junctions that interact with actin[3]. The space between adjacent membranes at adherens junctions is about 20-25 nm[4]. In epithlial cells, adherens junctions form a continuous belt that surrounds the cell at the apical end of the lateral membrane. Also, Adherens Junctions share similarities to Desmosomes and Hemi-desmosomes, due to they contain both cadherin and integrin which are transmembrane linkers used in the others[5]. Accordingly, this creates a connection to adjacent cells and extracellular matrix.
The adherens junctions are contsructed fromCadherin proteins, 5 Cadherin molecules are bound to gtehr and staibalised by Ca2+ ions. These chain extend beyond the plasma membrane into the extracellular matrix and bind to cadherins on neighbouring cells[6]. The binding to actin is faciliated by Catenin intercellular adaptor proteins[7].
References
- ↑ Alberts, Bruce, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 6th Edition, New York, Garland Science, Taylor and Francis Group, 2015.
- ↑ Alberts, Bruce, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 6th Edition, New York, Garland Science, Taylor and Francis Group, 2015.
- ↑ Wayne M. Becker, Lewis J. Kleinsmith, Jeff Hardin, Gregory Paul Bertoni (2009), The World of the Cell, Pearson International Edition, 7th Edition, P.485
- ↑ Wayne M. Becker, Lewis J. Kleinsmith, Jeff Hardin, Gregory Paul Bertoni (2009), The World of the Cell, Pearson International Edition, 7th Edition, P.485
- ↑ Alberts, Bruce, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 6th Edition, New York, Garland Science, Taylor and Francis Group, 2015.
- ↑ Green KJ, Getsios S, Troyanovsky S, and Godsel LM. Intercellular junction assembly, dynamics and homeostasis, Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol, 2010 Feb.
- ↑ Jacqueline M. Benjamin, W. James Nelson, Bench to bedside and back again: molecular mechanisms of α- catenin function and roles of Tumorigenesis, Semin Cancer Biol, 2008 Feb, 18: 01: 53-64.