Tight junctions and adherens junctions: Quantifying adhesion and role in mechanotransduction in epithelial cells

Abstract

Cell adhesion allows adherent cell types like epithelial cells to form monolayers that act as barriers to invading pathogens and regulate solute and solvent diffusion. The solute transport is not only regulated by the cells themselves but also by the intercellular adhesion proteins that hold these cells together. These intercellular adhesion proteins are highly dynamic, organized complexes that also regulate cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation and migration. The expression, distribution and functions of these cell adhesion proteins are significantly affected by mechanical, chemical and biological stimuli coming from the surroundings. Different cell adhesion molecules are bestowed with different structural, adhesive and kinetic properties so that they can serve different physiological functions. The two main goals of this dissertation are to (a) probe the adhesion kinetics of specific intercellular adhesion proteins using single molecule force spectroscopy and correlate it to their physiological functions (b) to study the effect of mechanical strain on the expression and distribution of these intercellular adhesion proteins.