Cell adhesion molecule

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Cell adhesion molecules (also CAM s, English cell adhesion molecule ) are a class of proteins that mediate the contacts between cells in an animal tissue . They have two basic functions:

  • the cohesion of tissues and
  • enable cells to communicate with one another.

These are integral membrane proteins that protrude from the cell and interact with other proteins on the cell surface .

Lower forms

A distinction is made between cell adhesion molecules, which establish contacts between two neighboring cells, and cell adhesion molecules, which establish contacts between the cell and the extracellular matrix :

ICAMs

Intercellular cell adhesion molecules (also ICAMs, English intercellular cell adhesion molecule) are a subgroup of cell adhesion molecules and belong to the protein family of immunoglobulins. They mediate heterophilic bonds to integrins on endothelial cells (e.g. in blood vessels). In the case of the ICAM-1, lymphocytes can migrate into surrounding tissue via a bond to their integrins (see Rolling Adhesion).

Cell-cell adhesion

There are two large groups of proteins cadherins , the calcium-dependent , homophilic form bonds, and the large group of N-CAM ( English nerve-cell adhesion molecule ) or the immunoglobulin superfamily , which also mainly with other N-CAMs same kind to interact. In this way, similarly structured cells come together and recognize each other so that they can form a cohesive tissue and thus the organ . Other proteins that mediate cell-cell adhesion are LRR proteins ( English leucine-rich repeat ), EGF domain proteins and type C lectin .

Cell-matrix adhesion

The connections between cells and the extracellular matrix are established by the integrins . These are heterodimeric receptors that mainly bind to the laminins and to RGD-containing proteins in the extracellular matrix. They are especially important for cohesion.

See also

literature

Commons : Cell adhesion molecules  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Philipp Christen, Rolf Jaussi: Biochemistry: An introduction with 40 learning units (Springer textbook) . Springer, 2004, ISBN 3-540-21164-0 , pp. 379 ff .