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Related Concept Videos

Structure of Cadherins01:25

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...
Cadherins in Tissue Organization01:19

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...
Catenins01:23

Catenins

Catenins are characterized by multiple binding domains and dynamic structures that allow them to function as linker proteins in cell junction complexes. All catenins, except α-catenin, contain a characteristic protein sequence called the armadillo repeat and are therefore also called armadillo proteins.
Catenins in Cell Junctions
Catenins bind to cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins and link them to different cytoskeletal proteins depending on the type of cell junction. At the adherens...
Tension Response at Adherens Junctions01:26

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...
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...
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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 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

Resolving cadherin interactions and binding cooperativity at the single-molecule level.

Yunxiang Zhang1, Sanjeevi Sivasankar, W James Nelson

  • 1Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|December 31, 2008
PubMed
Summary

Cadherin proteins mediate cell-cell adhesion through interactions. This study reveals cadherin monomers directly form adhesive complexes, challenging the cis-dimer model and highlighting monomer density

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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

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 26, 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

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:

  • Cell biology
  • Biophysics
  • Molecular interactions

Background:

  • Cadherins are crucial Ca(2+)-dependent cell adhesion proteins essential for tissue development and organization.
  • The precise molecular mechanisms of cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion are debated, with a prevailing model involving cis-dimer formation.
  • Existing evidence for cadherin binding states and cooperative adhesion is contradictory or lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To directly investigate the molecular interactions governing cadherin-mediated cell adhesion at the single-molecule level.
  • To test the prevailing model of cadherin adhesion involving cis-dimers and cooperative binding.
  • To elucidate the role of cadherin monomer interactions in initiating and strengthening cell-cell adhesion.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) for structural analysis of cadherin interactions.
  • Employed atomic force microscopy (AFM) to probe the functional aspects of cadherin adhesion.
  • Investigated cadherin binding states and the effect of cadherin density on adhesion probability.

Main Results:

  • Demonstrated direct interaction of cadherin monomers via their N-terminal EC1 domain to form trans adhesive complexes.
  • Did not detect the formation of cadherin cis-dimers as a prerequisite for adhesion.
  • Showed that increased cadherin monomer density cooperatively enhances the probability of trans adhesive binding.

Conclusions:

  • Cadherin adhesion is initiated by direct monomer-monomer interactions in trans, forming adhesive complexes.
  • The widely accepted cis-dimer model of cadherin adhesion is not supported by these findings.
  • Cooperative binding strength in cadherin adhesion is achieved through increased monomer density, not cis-dimerization.