Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Adhesion

Adhesion

Adhesion occurs when one type of molecule is attracted to a different molecule. Water exhibits adhesive properties in the presence of polar surfaces, such as glass or cellulose in plants. For instance, when water is poured into a glass, the positively charged hydrogen molecules of water are more attracted to the negatively charged oxygen molecules in the silica than to the oxygen in neighboring water molecules.
Capillary action is a result of water’s adhesive tendencies. When a narrow glass...

Cell Adhesion in Plants

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...

Cell Adhesion Molecules - Types and Functions

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...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Single-cell mechanical analysis and tension quantification via electrodeformation relaxation.

Physical review. E·2021

Same author

Coherent Timescales and Mechanical Structure of Multicellular Aggregates.

Biophysical journal·2018

Same author

Dexamethasone-Mediated Upregulation of Calreticulin Inhibits Primary Human Glioblastoma Dispersal Ex Vivo.

International journal of molecular sciences·2018

Same author

Dexamethasone-mediated inhibition of Glioblastoma neurosphere dispersal in an ex vivo organotypic neural assay.

PloS one·2017

Same author

Inhibition of glioblastoma dispersal by the MEK inhibitor PD0325901.

BMC cancer·2017

Same author

Dexamethasone-Mediated Activation of Fibronectin Matrix Assembly Reduces Dispersal of Primary Human Glioblastoma Cells.

PloS one·2015

Same journal

Zebrafish models of acute leukemias: Current models and future directions.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Developmental biology·2020

Same journal

Schwann cell development: From neural crest to myelin sheath.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Developmental biology·2020

Same journal

Human pluripotent stem cell-derived lung organoids: Potential applications in development and disease modeling.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Developmental biology·2020

Same journal

The macro and micro of chromosome conformation capture.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Developmental biology·2020

Same journal

Single-cell RNA sequencing in Drosophila: Technologies and applications.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Developmental biology·2020

Same journal

Proximity-dependent labeling methods for proteomic profiling in living cells: An update.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Developmental biology·2020

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 8, 2026

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

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

Published on: November 2, 2011

Differential adhesion in model systems.

Ramsey A Foty¹, Malcolm S Steinberg

¹Department of Surgery, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. fotyra@umdnj.edu.

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Developmental Biology

|September 10, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cell adhesion differences guide embryonic cell migration and tissue self-organization. This differential adhesion hypothesis (DAH) explains how cells sort, with other factors like cortical tension also playing a role.

More Related Videos

Assay of Adhesion Under Shear Stress for the Study of T Lymphocyte-Adhesion Molecule Interactions

Assay of Adhesion Under Shear Stress for the Study of T Lymphocyte-Adhesion Molecule Interactions

Published on: June 29, 2016

Dynamic Adhesion Assay for the Functional Analysis of Anti-adhesion Therapies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Dynamic Adhesion Assay for the Functional Analysis of Anti-adhesion Therapies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Published on: September 20, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 8, 2026

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

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

Published on: November 2, 2011

Assay of Adhesion Under Shear Stress for the Study of T Lymphocyte-Adhesion Molecule Interactions

Assay of Adhesion Under Shear Stress for the Study of T Lymphocyte-Adhesion Molecule Interactions

Published on: June 29, 2016

Dynamic Adhesion Assay for the Functional Analysis of Anti-adhesion Therapies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Dynamic Adhesion Assay for the Functional Analysis of Anti-adhesion Therapies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Published on: September 20, 2018

Area of Science:

Developmental Biology
Cell Biology
Biophysics

Background:

Cell migration is crucial for embryonic development, with intercellular adhesion guiding cell positioning.
The differential adhesion hypothesis (DAH) explains how variations in cell adhesion intensity drive cell sorting and tissue organization.
Understanding the physical principles of cell adhesion is key to deciphering morphogenetic processes.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the role of differential adhesion in orchestrating cell migration during embryonic development.
To review the experimental and computational evidence supporting the differential adhesion hypothesis (DAH).
To investigate the interplay between differential adhesion and other factors like cortical tension in tissue self-organization.

Main Methods:

Experimental verification of the DAH through measurements of intercellular cohesion.
Computational simulations to model cell sorting based on adhesion differences.
Assessing relative spatial positions of cells to validate adhesion-driven interactions.

Main Results:

The DAH has been experimentally verified and computationally simulated, demonstrating its predictive power.
Evidence shows differential adhesion is a primary driver of morphodynamic events in embryonic development.
Recent findings suggest cortical tension and elasticity also contribute to fine-tuning or driving tissue self-organization.

Conclusions:

Differential adhesion is a fundamental mechanism governing cell positioning and tissue self-organization in embryos.
An interplay between differential adhesion, cortical tension, and elasticity likely orchestrates complex morphogenetic movements.
Further research is needed to fully elucidate the combined contributions of these factors to tissue self-organization.