Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0281, USA.
Division of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia.
Trends Cell Biol. 2015 Dec;25(12):803-814. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2015.09.008. Epub 2015 Oct 28.
Cadherin-based cell-cell adhesions are a primary determinant of tissue structure. For several decades, it had been thought that the primary function of these ubiquitous structures was to resist external mechanical loads. Here we review recent evidence that cadherins also couple together the force-generating actomyosin cytoskeletons of neighbouring cells, serve as potent regulators of the actomyosin cytoskeleton, and activate diverse signalling pathways in response to applied load. In considering the force sensitivity of the molecular-scale processes that mediate these events, we propose a dynamic picture of the force-sensitive processes in cell-cell contacts. This quantitative and physical understanding of the mechanobiology of cadherin cell-cell junctions will aid endeavours to study the fundamental processes mediating the development and maintenance of tissue structure.
基于钙黏蛋白的细胞-细胞黏附是组织结构的主要决定因素。几十年来，人们一直认为这些普遍存在的结构的主要功能是抵抗外部机械载荷。在这里，我们回顾了最近的证据，表明钙黏蛋白还将相邻细胞的产生力的肌动球蛋白细胞骨架连接在一起，作为肌动球蛋白细胞骨架的有效调节剂，并在受到外部加载时激活多种信号通路。在考虑介导这些事件的分子尺度过程的力敏感性时，我们提出了细胞-细胞连接中力敏过程的动态图景。这种对钙黏蛋白细胞-细胞连接的机械生物学的定量和物理理解将有助于研究介导组织结构发育和维持的基本过程。
