BIOL 2520 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate, Neutrophil, Mitosis
24 Feb 2015
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Link the cell to the ecm: not to another cell! Provide tighter attachment to the ecm in vivo compared to focal adhesion (in vitro) Abundant where epithelial cells attach to the basement membrane. Composed of: a dense plaque of plectine to which intermediate filaments made of keratin are embedded inside the cell. Intermediate filaments provide structural support on the inside of the cell. The hemidesmosome is linked to the outside of the cell by integrin: integrin binds to ecm proteins and provides signalling to the nucleus, defect in integrin results in the loss of hemidesmosomes. Most evident where the lower layer of the epidermis fails to attach to the basement membrane: epidermolysis bullosa, chronic blistering is observed. Cells attach to the ecm, and to each other. Each human being begins life as a single cell: this single cell divides repeatedly to give rise to all 20-40 trillion cells of which we are comprised.
