Integrating Cells into Tissues and Organs 3 Flashcards
What are the different types of epithelial cell adherence systems?
Lateral -> tight junctions, adherens junctions, desmosome, gap junctions, cell adhesion molecules
Basal -> hemi-desmosomes, focal adhesions, integrins, proteoglycans, cell adhesion molecules
What is the name of the process where small molecules (sugars, AA, water) can cross the epithelium into the gut?
Paracellular transport
Controlled by tight junctions and gap junctions
Where are adhesion junctions found?
1/3 of the way down from the apical surface of epithelial cells
Found in pairs
What are adhesion junctions made from?
Intracellular actin filaments, liked to E-cadherin proteins that cross the intercellular space
Form an adhesion belt
Need Calcium ions
Which is the strongest cell-cell adhesion?
Desmosomes
Where are desmosomes found?
1/2 way down lateral surface of cell
Tissues which experience a lot of mechanical stress (eg. cardiac muscle, bladder tissue, gastrointestinal mucosa, epithelia, pregnant uterus)
What are desmosomes made from?
Cytokeratin fibres intracellularly, E-Cadherins intercellularly
Which is the only cell-cell adhesion found in skin cells?
Desmosomes
Where are gap junctions found?
Near base of lateral surface
Cardiac & smooth muscle cells
Which cell-cell adhesions communicate between cells eg. for a wave of electrical impulse?
Gap junctions
Which cells do not have gap junctions?
Spermatozoa, erythrocytes, other motile cells
Nerve cells
What are gap junctions made from?
They’re hexamers (hexagonal patterned cylinder) made of proteins (connexins)
Change in the connexin (eg. connexin 34 to 45 occurs in myometrium of pregnant uterus in preparation for birth to get coordinated contractions) can open/close the channel, as can ATP
What is the extracellular matrix made of?
Fibronectin, collagen, laminin fibres
What are hemi-desmosomes made of?
Cytokeratin internally (intermediate filaments), integrins connect across the membrane to laminin
What is the basal lamina connected to the connective tissue layer by?
Elastin, fibrillin, other collagens
What are focal adhesions made of?
Intracellular actin filaments, across the membrane by integrins
What do focal adhesions bind to in the basal lamina? what about hemi-desmosomes?
Focal - fibronectin
Hemi - laminin
What happens when the integrins in focal adhesions bind to fibronectin in the basal lamina?
There is a conformational change which results in them binding to collagen fibres
What do kinases do, in general?
Phosphorylate other proteins
How do integrins always work?
As an alpha-beta dimer
As a dimer they bind to the extracellular matrix weakly, but phosphorylation by focal adhesion kinase produces a heterotetramer which has a greater binding capacity, so a stronger bond
What do adhesion properties require?
Calcium ions
How are intracellular intermediate filaments (cytokeratin) connected extracellularly?
By E-Cadherins proteins in desmosomes
By integrins to basal lamina, hemi-desmosomes
How do epithelial cells adhere to each other?
Through cell surface proteins (E-Cahderins)
How do epithelial cells bind to the basal lamina?
Cellular adhesion molecules
How do epithelial cells adhere to muscle cells?
Through connective tissue fibres
Same for different types of tissue adhering to each other
What is the function of adherence proteins?
To maintain the survival and structure of cells and hence of tissues
To prevent pathogens from gaining entry to the internal environment