Cell adhesion in development: a complex signaling network

Cell-adhesion molecules play a major role in morphogenesis and organogenesis. In vertebrates, a significant fraction of genes encode cell-adhesion molecules. Multiple signal-transduction pathways have been described that modulate the adhesion process. These pathways have been studied in great detail...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current opinion in genetics & development 2003-08, Vol.13 (4), p.365-371
Main Author: Thiery, Jean Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Cadherins - metabolism
Cell Adhesion - physiology
Embryo Implantation - physiology
Embryonic and Fetal Development - physiology
Epithelium - embryology
Heart - embryology
L-Selectin - metabolism
L-Selectin - physiology
Mesoderm
Morphogenesis
Nerve Net - embryology
Neural Crest - embryology
Signal Transduction
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Summary:Cell-adhesion molecules play a major role in morphogenesis and organogenesis. In vertebrates, a significant fraction of genes encode cell-adhesion molecules. Multiple signal-transduction pathways have been described that modulate the adhesion process. These pathways have been studied in great detail for cadherins and integrins — two major adhesion systems controlling cell–cell and cell–substrate interactions. Recent findings confirm that a given cell-adhesion molecule can be implicated at different stages of development in processes as diverse as cell positioning, tissue patterning and compartmentalization, axon guidance and synaptogenesis. Clearly, a wide variety of new biophysical techniques and genomic approaches will permit analysis of the roles of adhesive interactions in development to be addressed with far greater precision.
ISSN:0959-437X
1879-0380
DOI:10.1016/S0959-437X(03)00088-1