Cadherin dimers in cell-cell adhesion

Sergey Troyanovsky*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

While the critical function of classic cadherin in cell-cell junctions is well established, the molecular mechanism of cadherin-based adhesion remains unclear. The elusive but principal part of this adhesion process is the cadherin-cadherin interaction maintaining the intercellular contacts. This interaction is believed to be weak, suggesting that the adhesive contacts are strengthened by the cytoskeleton-dependent clustering of numerous cadherin molecules. An examination of cadherin homodimers in living cells has shown, however, that cadherin adhesive interaction is surprisingly strong. This observation implies that the strength of the adhesive contacts is regulated by the processes disintegrating cadherin dimers. The molecular structure of these dimers and mechanisms potentially responsible for their dynamics in living cells are discussed in this review.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)225-233
Number of pages9
JournalEuropean journal of cell biology
Volume84
Issue number2-3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 9 2005

Funding

The author thanks former and present members of his lab for comments on the manuscript and especially Dr. J. Klingelhofer (Institute of Cancer Biology, Denmark) for help in preparing the figures. This work has been supported by Grant AR44016-04 from the National Institutes of Health.

Keywords

  • Adhesion
  • Cadherin
  • Dimerization

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pathology and Forensic Medicine
  • Histology
  • Cell Biology

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