Exploring the Nature of Desmosomal Cadherin Associations in 3D

Figure 1

A tomographic slice of a desmosome bridging two opposing keratinocytes (delineated by two blue arrows) from the epidermis of a newborn mouse. Intermediate filaments (labeled IF and marked by a yellow asterix) from neighboring cells are interconnected to each other via the transmembrane cadherin proteins. Intracellular bridging proteins of the inner dense plaque (labeled IDP is a structural framework that includes cadherin intracellular domains, plakoglobin, plakophillin, and the N-terminal domain of desmoplakin) and the outer dense plaque (labeled ODP is a structural framework consisting of the rod domain and C-terminal domain of desmoplakin) link the intermediate filaments to the extracellular core domain (ECD). The ECD is composed of extracellular domains of desmosomal cadherins, namely, desmocollins and desmogleins. The area of cadherin interaction appears as a dense mid-line bisecting the ECD due to heterophilic associations between desmocollins and desmogleins. Scale bar represents 50 nm.