BSC 300 Lecture 20: 20 - Integrating Cells into Tissues (Pt 1)

• School: University of Alabama
• Department: Biological Sciences
• Course: BSC 300
• Professor: John Yoder

Document Summary

In multicellular organisms, adhesions aggregate cells into tissues to cooperatively work common functions. Consists of 3 main components: i. ii. iii. Ground substance : gel-like material secreted by cells in which they and the bers are embedded. Fibers + ground substance = extracellular matrix. Cells adhere to each other and associate with the extracellular environment through dynamic spatial/temporal expression and functional regulation of diverse adhesion molecules. Cytosolic domains bind diverse intracellular adapter proteins that link them to the cytoskeleton. Extracellular domains associate with other cam proteins. Similar to cams, they are also cytoplasmically linked to the cytoskeleton. Outside-in signaling : cells can use adhesions to transduce signals and respond to environmental cues to be in uenced to change shape/behavior. Inside-out signaling : cells can communicate to the extracellular environment and alter activity/function of molecules out there. Some bind homophilic - only members of the same family can interact. Some bind heterophilic - associate with members of another cam family.