Abstract
IN various epithelial tissues, desmosomes (D) as well as hemidesmosomes (HD) are common specialisations of the plasma membrane1. Both membrane differentiations are thought to play an important role either in cell–cell adhesion (D) or in the attachment to biological substrata (HD)2. In vitro formation of D and HD has been observed in embryonic lens cells3 or organ culture outgrowth of skin4. We have now found that in cultured post-embryonic epidermal cells (PEC) both membrane specialisations axe formed independently of each other. We show that in cells stimulated to grow, an increased number of attachment devices contacting the substratum is formed. At the dorsal surface of the same cell, however, morphological expression of tissue-specific differentiation is present.
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CHRISTOPHERS, E., WOLFF, H. Differential formation of desmosomes and hemidesmosomes in epidermal cell cultures treated with retinoic acid. Nature 256, 209–210 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/256209a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/256209a0
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