Cell Junctions and ECM (Unit 8) Flashcards
What is the basal lamina or “basement membrane”?
A thin, fibrous (mesh-like) and tough but flexible mat on the basal side of epithelial cells or wrapped around muscle and fat cells
What makes up the basal lamina?
Proteins and sugars secreted by local stroma and epithelial tissue
What are the 3 main components of the basal lamina?
Proteoglycans (perlecan)
Glycoproteins (Type 4 collagen, nidogen and laminin)
Collage 13
Fibronectin
What two things does the basal lamina separate?
Epithelial tissue and the surrounding connective tissue (stroma)
How do perlecan, type 4 collage and nidogen work together in the basal lamina?
They link laminin and collagen networks together
What is classical laminin?
A large and flexible heterotrimer held together with disulphide bonds that has multiple binding domains
How is classical laminin made into a sheet?
While bound to PM, Integrins (ex: dystroglycan) hold them in the right spots to create an organized sheet
What keeps blood macromolecules out of the urine in the kidney glomeruli?
Type 4 collagen and GAGs
What does the basal lamina do?
-Structure + Cell Polarity + organizing proteins near PM
-Cell Migration highway and filtering
-Influence: Survival, proliferation and differentiation
How does the basal lamina generally act as a filter in epithelial tissue
Keeps fibroblasts out
Meanwhile, macrophages and lymphocytes can use proteases to saw through
How does the basal lamina help with tissue regneration?
It usually survives breaks and thus acts as a scaffold
Why can fibronectin only assemble into fibrils in vivo?
It needs to link to actin via fibronectin binding proteins (usally integrin) so that it can stretch and reveal its binding site
They bind to eachother and recruiting molecules to make their fibrils
Why is fibronectin soluable in body fluids but not in the ECM?
In the ECM, dimers cross-link with more disulfide bonds
How do tissues prevent tears
They weave collagen in with elastic protein to gain a stretch ability (collagen also resists tensile forces)
What is a microfibril sheath?
A structure surrounding elastic fibers made of glycoproteins (mostly fibrilin)
They provide scafolding for elastic fibers but can also persist without them
What does fibrilin do?
Bind elastin and provides elastic fiber integrity in microfibrill sheaths
What is a microfibril?
Fibril of elastic proteins and other proteins
What is elastin?
A hydrophobic protein with lots of proline and glycine that cross-links using Lysine
The hydrophobicity allows for elastic properties and some parts of its chain have a loose coil that gives spring-like properties
They contain no glycosylation (no OH-Lys) but do have some OH-Pro
How is elastin made?
Tropoelastin is secreted and then cross-linked into a fiber close to the PM
Rose’s is constantly gaining and loosing collagen, what is wrong with her?
Nothing! Collagen turnover is healthy
Jen’s wounds are not healing, her blood vessels are fragile and her teeth are falling out, what is wrong with her?
The pro-alpha chains that are meant to become collagen cannot form a triple helix and are instead degraded.
This means no new collagen can be made
What kind of genetic diseases are collagen diseases typically?
Autosomal dominant
What is type 1 collagen?
The most common type, it is fibrillar and contains no interuptions
After aggregating into cable-link bundles, that look like a long rope, it can be seen with light microscopy
Found in skin and bone
What is type 4 collagen?
Collagen that forms networks
Its superhelix contains many interruptions and thus bends
Huge part of basal lamina
What are types 9 and 12 collagen?
Non-fibril forming
Helices are often interupted with short non-helice parts
They bind collagen fibrils to link them to eachother and the ECM (in charge of organization)
What drives collagen formation? Where does this happen?
-Self-assembly tendency
-Near the PM
What are the 8 steps of collagen assembly?
1) Make pro-alpha filaments
2) Proline and Lysines Hydroxylation (not all!)
3) Lysine glycosylation
4) Self-assembly
5) Triple helix forms
6) Leave secretory vesicle
7) Cleave propeptide chains
8) Full fibril forms (with self-assembly)
*Later aggregation to fiber
Why do collagen helices have propeptides?
To prevent fibrils from forming inside the cell
Why do we think we hydroxylate the Pro and Lys in collagen pro-alpha chains?
We think the OH stabilizes the triple helix via H-bonds
What two amino acids are plentiful in collagen?
What do they do?
Proline: Stabilizes helical structure of each class
Glycine: Lets chains pack together (exists every 3 a.a.)
How to we categorize GAGs?
Sugar linkages
Sulfation location and #
What is hyaluronan?
Most simple (no sulfation, tends to not be linked to protein core, identical disaccarides)
NOT exocytosed -> Secreted from enzyme complex on the PM
What are the 4 main GAGs
Keratan Sulfate
Heparan Sulfate
Chondrotin Sulphate (Dermatan Sulphate)
Hyaluronan
What are GAGs?
Unbranched disaccharide chains with high negative charge that attracts cation clouds that attract water (thus giving tissue compression resistance via turgor strength)
Their volume is a lot larger than their mass and they form gels at low concentrations
What cation is most prevalent in a GAG cloud?
Na+
What is a proteoglycan?
A heavily glycosylated (mostly O-linked) protein with at least 1 GAG sugar.
The core protein tends to have a LINK domain to help covalently link GAG
What are aggregan and decorin?
Proteoglycans
Aggregan has over 100 GAGs (in cartiledge)
Decorin has 1 GAG and binds collagen to regulate its fibrils
What are the main components of the ECM?
Proteoglycans
Fibrous Proteins (ex: fibrin, collagen, elastin)
Non-collagen N-linked glycoproteins
+ other matrix associated proteins that modify the behavior of the matrix
What are the two components of tissue
Cells
ECM
What type of microscopy do we need to see Gap Junctions?
TEM
How are GAP junctions made?
6 connexins form one connexon
2 connexons from 2 diff cells meet to form a channel
Multiple channels together forms a Gap junction
How do connexons come together to form their junction?
New ones exocytose and then diffuse till they stick to plaque (protein aggregation)
What can open/close a gap junction?
Change in pH
Voltage difference
Neurotransmitters
Are plaques and junctions static?
No! Plaques can be modfied, destroyed and reassembled
connexons are also always being removed from the core and added to the periphery
What is the main role of Gap junctions?
Mechanically and electrically connect cells by allowing the exchange of small molecules
Explain how the GAP junction turnover Experiment Works
What do proteoglycans do?
Resist compression and allow diffusion
(bc creates a hydrated gel-like substance)