RT Book, Section
A1 Bruckner-Tuderman, Leena
A1 Payne, Aimee S.
A2 Goldsmith, Lowell A.
A2 Katz, Stephen I.
A2 Gilchrest, Barbara A.
A2 Paller, Amy S.
A2 Leffell, David J.
A2 Wolff, Klaus
SR Print(0)
ID 56036955
T1 Chapter 53. Epidermal and Epidermal–Dermal Adhesion
T2 Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine, 8e
YR 2012
FD 2012
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-166904-7
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=56036955
RD 2024/04/24
AB |PrintEpidermal  and  Epidermal–Dermal  Adhesion  at  a  GlanceThe  adhesive  structures  in  the  skin  include  desmosomes,  focal  adhesions,  hemidesmosomes,  and  basement  membranes.Desmosomes  are  primarily  responsible  for  epidermal  adhesion.The  major  components  of  desmosomes  are  the  desmosomal  cadherins  (desmogleins  and  desmocollins),  plakins  (desmoplakin,  envoplakin,  and  periplakin),  and  armadillo  family  proteins  (plakoglobin  and  plakophilins).The  hemidesmosomal  components  comprise  plakin  homologs,  integrins,  and  collagenous  transmembrane  proteins.All  basement  membranes  contain  collagen  IV,  laminins,  nidogens,  and  perlecan.Functional  specificity  of  basement  membranes  is  provided  by  additional  tissue-specific  glycoproteins.In  addition  to  their  structural  roles,  desmosomes,  hemidesmosomes,  and  the  epidermal  basement  membrane  are  biologically  active  in  cellular  signaling.Mutations  in  the  genes  encoding  the  above  proteins  cause  hereditary  skin  diseases,  ranging  from  hypotrichosis  and  keratoderma  to  epidermolysis  bullosa  and  Kindler  syndrome.Protein  components  of  desmosomes,  hemidesmosomes,  and  epidermal  basement  membrane  are  targeted  in  autoimmune  blistering  diseases  of  the  pemphigus  or  pemphigoid  group  and  in  epidermolysis  bullosa  acquisita.