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Related Concept Videos

Adherens Junctions01:24

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...
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions01:17

Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions

Integrins act both as extracellular input receivers and as intracellular processing activators. As their name suggests, integrins are entirely integrated into the membrane structure. Their hydrophobic membrane-spanning regions interact with the phospholipid bilayer's hydrophobic region. These membrane receptors provide extracellular attachment sites for effectors like hormones and growth factors. They activate intracellular response cascades when their effectors are bound and active.
Some...
Cell Adhesion Molecules - Types and Functions01:20

Cell Adhesion Molecules - Types and Functions

Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are pivotal to multicellularity and the coordinated functioning of tissues and organ systems. They enable physical interactions between cells and provide mechanical strength to tissues. They also function as receptors for signal transmission across the plasma membrane. The CAMs are broadly classified into four families - integrins, cadherins, selectins, and immunoglobulin-like CAMs (IgCAMs).
CAM Families
The Integrin family of proteins is primarily  involved in a...
Cell Adhesion Molecules - Types and Functions01:20

Cell Adhesion Molecules - Types and Functions

Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are pivotal to multicellularity and the coordinated functioning of tissues and organ systems. They enable physical interactions between cells and provide mechanical strength to tissues. They also function as receptors for signal transmission across the plasma membrane. The CAMs are broadly classified into four families - integrins, cadherins, selectins, and immunoglobulin-like CAMs (IgCAMs).
CAM Families
The Integrin family of proteins is primarily  involved in a...
Cooperative Allosteric Transitions01:58

Cooperative Allosteric Transitions

Cooperative allosteric transitions can occur in multimeric proteins, where each subunit of the protein has its own ligand-binding site. When a ligand binds to any of these subunits, it triggers a conformational change that affects the binding sites in the other subunits; this can change the affinity of the other sites for their respective ligands. The ability of the protein to change the shape of its binding site is attributed to the presence of a mix of flexible and stable segments in the...
Cell Adhesion in Plants01:14

Cell Adhesion in Plants

Plants have rigid cell walls that are made up of cell wall polysaccharides that mediate cell-cell adhesion. The primary cell walls of plants consist of two independent and interacting polysaccharide networks: a pectin matrix that embeds the second network comprising cellulose and hemicelluloses.
Pectins are complex heteropolymers mainly composed of negatively-charged α-D-glucopyranosyl uronic acid and some neutral glycosyl residues such as α-L-rhamnopyranose, α-L-arabinofuranose, and...

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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Bead Aggregation Assays for the Characterization of Putative Cell Adhesion Molecules
08:15

Bead Aggregation Assays for the Characterization of Putative Cell Adhesion Molecules

Published on: October 17, 2014

Cooperativity in adhesion cluster formation during initial cell adhesion.

Christine Selhuber-Unkel1, Mónica López-García, Horst Kessler

  • 1Department of New Materials and Biosystems, Max-Planck-Institute for Metals Research, Stuttgart, Germany. selhuber@nbi.dk

Biophysical Journal
|August 12, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Cell adhesion strength increases when integrin molecules are spaced less than 70 nm apart. This nanoscale patterning is crucial for early cell-substrate interactions and integrin clustering.

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Last Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Bead Aggregation Assays for the Characterization of Putative Cell Adhesion Molecules
08:15

Bead Aggregation Assays for the Characterization of Putative Cell Adhesion Molecules

Published on: October 17, 2014

Ligand Nano-cluster Arrays in a Supported Lipid Bilayer
10:34

Ligand Nano-cluster Arrays in a Supported Lipid Bilayer

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Adhesion Frequency Assay for In Situ Kinetics Analysis of Cross-Junctional Molecular Interactions at the Cell-Cell Interface
13:22

Adhesion Frequency Assay for In Situ Kinetics Analysis of Cross-Junctional Molecular Interactions at the Cell-Cell Interface

Published on: November 2, 2011

Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Materials Science
  • Cell Biology

Background:

  • Cell adhesion is mediated by integrin receptors.
  • The spatial organization of integrins influences cell behavior.
  • Understanding early adhesion dynamics is critical for various biological processes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of integrin lateral organization in cell adhesion.
  • To quantify the effect of integrin spacing on adhesion strength.
  • To model the cooperative stabilization of early integrin clusters.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized single-cell force microscopy and atomic force microscopy.
  • Fabricated nanostructured surfaces with hexagonally ordered gold dots using diblock-copolymer micelle lithography.
  • Functionalized surfaces with arginine-glycine-aspartate peptides to control integrin positioning.

Main Results:

  • Adhesion strength was enhanced when integrin molecules were spaced <70 nm apart.
  • This reinforcement was observed at early cell-substrate contact times (<5 min).
  • Results indicate that the distance between integrin binding sites is more critical than their density.

Conclusions:

  • Nanoscale receptor patterning significantly impacts early cell adhesion.
  • The distance between integrins plays a key role in adhesion reinforcement.
  • A model for cooperative stabilization of early integrin clusters based on nanoscale receptor arrangement is proposed.