Plakins: a family of versatile cytolinker proteins

By connecting cytoskeletal elements to each other and to junctional complexes, the plakin family of cytolinkers plays a crucial role in orchestrating cellular development and maintaining tissue integrity. Plakins are built from combinations of interacting domains that bind to microfilaments, microtubules, intermediate filaments, cell-adhesion molecules and members of the armadillo family. Plakins are involved in both inherited and autoimmune diseases that affect the skin, neuronal tissue, and cardiac and skeletal muscle. Here, we describe the members of the plakin family and their interaction partners, and give examples of the cellular defects that result from their dysfunction.