Northwestern Medicine investigators have uncovered new insights into how intercellular "glue" functions to enable interactions between cells, as detailed in a study published in Nature Communications.

Tight junctions (blue dots) between cells are connected areas of the plasma membrane that stitch cells together. Adherens junctions (red dots) join the actin filaments of neighboring cells together.

Our skin and mucous membranes are protected by epithelial cells, which form a barrier that defends the body from the outside ...

In particular, adaptor complexes bind adherens junctions to cytoskeletal actin, and other adaptor complexes bind desmosomes to intermediate filaments. Both of these types of junctional complexes ...

Inherited retinal degeneration (IRD) encompasses various disorders characterized by progressive loss of retinal photoreceptor ...

This function relies to a large extent on the presence of “adherens” and “tight junctions,” veritable protein locks linking neighboring cells and ensuring tissue tightness. Tight junctions ...

Learn how nanoparticles cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and explore their potential in treating neurological disorders ...

Our skin and mucous membranes are protected by epithelial cells. This 'barrier' tissue performs its function thanks to specialized structures called 'junctions'. They ensure cell cohesion and regulate ...