Pokutta Sabine, Weis William I
Department of Structural Biology and Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 2007;23:237-61. doi: 10.1146/annurev.cellbio.22.010305.104241.
Cadherins are Ca(2+)-dependent cell adhesion molecules found in several kinds of cell-cell contact, including adherens junctions and desmosomes. In the presence of Ca(2+), cells expressing the same type of cadherin form stable contacts with one another, a phenomenon designated homophilic, or homotypic, adhesion. Most cadherins are single-pass transmembrane proteins whose extracellular regions mediate specific cell-cell interactions. The intracellular faces of these contacts are associated with the actin cytoskeleton in adherens junctions or the intermediate-filament system in desmosomes. The close coordination of the transmembrane adhesion molecules with the cytoskeleton is believed to be essential in coordinating morphogenetic movements of tissues during development and in conferring the appropriate mechanical properties to cell-cell contacts. Structural, biochemical, and biophysical analysis of the molecules that comprise these contacts has provided unique mechanistic insights into the specificity of homophilic adhesion, the functional connection to the underlying cytoskeleton, and the dynamics of junction formation.
钙黏着蛋白是一类依赖钙离子的细胞黏附分子，存在于多种细胞间连接中，包括黏着连接和桥粒。在钙离子存在的情况下，表达相同类型钙黏着蛋白的细胞彼此形成稳定连接，这种现象称为嗜同性或同型黏附。大多数钙黏着蛋白是单次跨膜蛋白，其细胞外区域介导特定的细胞间相互作用。这些连接的细胞内面在黏着连接中与肌动蛋白细胞骨架相关，在桥粒中与中间丝系统相关。跨膜黏附分子与细胞骨架的紧密协调被认为在发育过程中协调组织的形态发生运动以及赋予细胞间连接适当的机械特性方面至关重要。对构成这些连接的分子进行的结构、生化和生物物理分析，为嗜同性黏附的特异性、与潜在细胞骨架的功能联系以及连接形成的动力学提供了独特的机制见解。
