Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER FIVE
Insights into the Role of Cell
Cell
-
Junctions in Physiology
and Disease
Qi Wei, Hayden Huang 1
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, USA
1
Corresponding author: e-mail address: hayden.huang@columbia.edu
Contents
1.
Introduction
188
2. The Structure and Composition of Cell Junctions
189
2.1 Overview of cell junctions
189
2.2 Adherens junctions
189
2.3 Desmosomes
191
2.4 Tight junctions
192
2.5 Gap junctions
192
3. Cell Junctions in Development
193
3.1 Overview
193
3.2 Adherens junctions
194
3.3 Desmosomes
195
3.4 Tight junctions
195
3.5 Gap junctions
195
3.6 Cell junctions and the cytoskeleton in development
196
4. Cell Junctions in Disease
197
4.1 Overview
197
4.2 Junctions in noncancerous diseases
199
4.3 Cell junctions in cancer
202
5. Studies of Junctions
205
5.1 Techniques for studying junctions
205
5.2 Effects of junctional proteins on cell physiology
207
6. Future Research Directions
210
7. Concluding Remarks
211
References
211
Abstract
Contacting cells establish different classes of intricate structures at the cell - cell junc-
tions. These structures are of increasing research interest as they regulate a broad variety
of processes in development and disease. Further,
in vitro studies are revealing that
 
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