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Anchoring Junctions

Anchoring Junctions

Anchoring junctions are multiprotein complexes that help cells connect to other cells and the extracellular matrix. Anchoring junctions are present on the lateral and basal surfaces of cells, providing strong and flexible connections. Focal adhesions are often formed due to cell interactions with the ECM substrata, which initiate signal transduction via kinase cascades and other mechanisms. Together, they provide stability and tissue integrity. There are three types of anchoring junctions:...

Overview of Cell-Cell Junctions

Overview of Cell-Cell Junctions

The complex three-dimensional arrangement of cells in any multicellular organism is defined and maintained by interactions of cells with each other and the extracellular matrix. Cell-cell junctions are specialized structures where the multi-protein complexes on one cell interact with the multi-protein complexes on another cell. These cell junctions are classified into three main types based on their function — occluding, anchoring, and gap junctions.
Occluding or Tight Junctions
Tight...

Structure of Cadherins

Structure of Cadherins

The cadherins were one of the first cell adhesion molecules discovered; the term “cadherins” is based on their calcium-dependent adhering properties. The first cadherins discovered on the epithelial, neuronal, and placental cells were named E-cadherin, P-cadherin, and N-cadherin, respectively. These classical cadherins share sequence and structural similarities. Other cadherins, including those involved in cell signaling, are grouped into non-classical cadherins. This diversity of cadherins...

Adherens Junctions

Adherens Junctions

Strong contact points between adjacent cells anchor them to each other, forming tissues. Such anchoring junctions are of two types – adherens junctions and desmosomes. Adherens junctions are abundant in tissues such as epithelium and endothelium, forming a continuous zone of adhesion called the adhesion belt. In other tissues, such as heart muscle, they appear as clusters, linking the cells to produce coordinated heart muscle contraction.
Adherens Junctions are Dynamic
The endothelial cells...

Cadherins in Tissue Organization

Cadherins in Tissue Organization

The cadherins are a superfamily of cell adhesion molecules comprising over 180 variants, with specific tissues expressing a particular combination of cadherin types. Cadherins generally exhibit homophilic binding; i.e., cadherins on one cell bind to cadherins of the same or closely related type on another cell. Thus, cells of the same type have a specific affinity to bind to each other and sort themselves into clusters to form tissues.
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...

Tension Response at Adherens Junctions

Tension Response at Adherens Junctions

The adherens junctions that anchor cells together are multi-protein complexes that dynamically adapt to mechanical stimuli such as tensile forces and shear stress. Mechanosensory proteins in these junctions can sense such mechanical stimuli and undergo a shift in their conformation, resulting in an altered function — a process called mechanotransduction.
α-Catenin as a Mechanosensory Protein
The α-catenin of adherens junctions is an allosteric protein with three VH (vinculin homology) domains...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Bead Aggregation Assays for the Characterization of Putative Cell Adhesion Molecules

Bead Aggregation Assays for the Characterization of Putative Cell Adhesion Molecules

Published on: October 17, 2014

Basal-to-apical cadherin flow at cell junctions.

Yoshiko Kametani¹, Masatoshi Takeichi

¹Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.

Nature Cell Biology

|December 13, 2006

Summary

Cell adhesion molecules called cadherins flow along cell junctions, coordinating cell movement and tissue integrity. This cadherin flow is linked to actin filament reorganization during cell migration.

Area of Science:

Cell Biology
Biophysics
Developmental Biology

Background:

Stable cell-cell adhesion is crucial for tissue integrity.
Cells possess mechanisms to coordinate adhesion and movement for relocation.
Understanding the interplay between cell adhesion and motility is key in developmental processes.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the dynamic behavior of cadherins at cell junctions.
To explore the relationship between cadherin movement, actin cytoskeleton, and cell migration.
To elucidate the role of cadherin flow in morphogenetically active cell sheets.

Main Methods:

Observation of cadherin molecule dynamics in transformed cell lines and normal epithelial sheets.
Analysis of actin filament organization in conjunction with cadherin flow.

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Bead Aggregation Assays for the Characterization of Putative Cell Adhesion Molecules

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Real-time Imaging of Endothelial Cell-cell Junctions During Neutrophil Transmigration Under Physiological Flow

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Microscopy techniques to visualize molecular movement at the basal-apical cell junction.

Main Results:

Cadherin adhesion molecules exhibit a flow-like movement in a basal-apical direction at cell junctions in some transformed cell lines.
This cadherin flow is associated with the reorganization of actin filaments.
Similar cadherin flow is observed in normal epithelial sheets, specifically at junctions of moving cells.

Conclusions:

Cadherin flow represents a novel mechanism for coordinating cell adhesion and movement.
This dynamic process may facilitate the sliding of contacting cell membranes during tissue morphogenesis.
Cadherin flow is a conserved phenomenon in both transformed and normal epithelial cells involved in migration.