Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
various cell - cell interaction proteins are involved not only in cell - cell processes but also
in many additional aspects of physiology, such as migration and apoptosis. This chapter
reviews the basic classification of cell - cell junctional structures and some of their rep-
resentative proteins. Their roles in development and disease are briefly outlined,
followed by a section on contemporary methods for probing cell - cell interactions
and some recent developments. This chapter concludes with a few suggestions for
potential research directions to further develop this promising area of study.
1. INTRODUCTION
Cell-cell interactions drive numerous physiological processes and help
enable coordinated functioning in multicellular organisms. Many cell-cell
interactions have not been well characterized, partially because, until
recently, much work was devoted to examining cell-matrix interactions,
and partially because studying cell-cell associations comes with a long list
of challenges. There are three key challenges to the latter. First, such asso-
ciations are generally more geometrically complex. This is not to say that
cell-cell adhesion plaques are necessarily smaller, but cell-substrate interac-
tions can be examined over the area of some spread, adhered cell, whereas
cell-cell junctions are limited to a slightly thickened perimeter of the cell,
with 3D orientation even when cells are plated on flat surfaces. Second, var-
ious extracellular matrices are readily isolated or purchased, while cell-cell
junctions rely more on specific receptor-receptor interactions, which in
turn rely on expensive antibodies or purified receptors. Finally, effects of
cell-cell interactions are very difficult to isolate from cell-substrate interac-
tions in adherent cells. The reverse is a bit simpler—some cell models can
work with sparsely plated cells. But generating consistent cell culture con-
ditions where cell-cell interactions dominate is not always a simple matter.
As a result of these and other challenges, insights into cell-cell interac-
tions have been somewhat slow in coming. While we can now generate arti-
ficial scaffolds of various materials, geometries/patterns, adhesion molecules,
and mechanical properties (e.g., stiffness), there are few analogous tools for
cell junctional studies. However, with the recent development of more
advanced methods, the critical role of cell-cell junctional proteins in regu-
lating various cell processes is rapidly becoming more appreciated. This
chapter is intended to provide an overview of the basic structure of key
cell-cell junctional architecture, recently characterized roles of relevant
junctional proteins in development and disease, and to provide an overview
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