Review
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 5, 271-281 (April 2004) | doi:10.1038/nrm1356
Working out the strength and flexibility of desmosomes
Spiro Getsios1, Arthur C. Huen1 & Kathleen J. Green1 About the authors
Abstract
Desmosomes have long been regarded as essential 'spot welds' that externally glue together cells within a tissue, and internally anchor the cytoskeletal network of intermediate filaments. Inactivation of desmosomal components by mutation, autoimmune antibodies and bacterial toxins breaches the structural integrity of embryos and adult tissues. But desmosomes are also functionally flexible organelles that recruit molecules capable of instructing cells within a tissue to undergo proper morphogenesis and patterning.
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Author affiliations
- Departments of Pathology and Dermatology and the Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 303 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.
Correspondence to: Kathleen J. Green1 Email: kgreen@northwestern.edu
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