The closest look ever at native hu...(ith each other to bring cells close toge...)

We could see the interaction between two cadherins directly, and this revealed where the strength of human skin comes from, says Ashraf Al-Amoudi, who carried out the work in Frangakis lab. The trick is that each cadherin binds twice: once to a molecule from the juxtaposed cell, and once to its next-door neighbour. The system works a bit like specialised Velcro and establishes very tight contacts between cells.

The new insights into the cadherin system broadens the understanding of structural aspects of cell adhesion and shed light on other crucial processes such as cell proliferation. The technical advances achieved in cryo-electron tomography of frozen sections open up new possibilities to study more systems at native conditions with molecular resolution.

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