Cell Adhesion
- In order for an organism to be multicellular, its cells need to adhere, or stick, to one another to form tissues
- The plasma membrane is responsible for cell adhesion and this can be permanent or temporary
- Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are required to carry out cell adhesion
- CAMs are a type of cell surface protein
- They work by binding cells with other cells or with the extracellular matrix
- The extracellular matrix contains supporting structures, such as collagen proteins, and provides support for the cells
- Different CAMs are present in different types of cell-cell junction
- Examples of different cell-cell junctions include:
- Tight junctions
- Adherens junctions
- Desmosomes
- Gap junctions
Cell adhesion diagram
Cell adhesion involves the binding of CAMs to other cells or to the extra-cellular matrix
Different types of cell-cell junction contain different CAMs
