Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Adhesion Molecules

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

  • 34 Accesses

Synonyms

Cell adhesion molecule

Definition

Adhesion molecules are the protein molecules that are situated on the surface of the cells or the intracellular organelle.

Description

The adhesion molecules attach to adjacent cells and help with binding with these cells or extracellular structures. There are several functions described like transmitting the information (cellular signaling pathways) to communicate between cells and within the cells. The adhesion molecules usually share a common basic structure that they have extracellular and intracellular domains that are connected to transcellular domain. This facilitates their function to act as messenger across the cellular membrane on either side.

Adhesion molecules are classified based on the function, structure, and location. Cadherins, integrins, selectins, and immunoglobulin (Ig)-related cell adhesion molecules (CAMS) are four major types of adhesion molecules. Brief summary of these molecules are described below.

The cadherins are...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References and Further Reading

  • Fuster, V., Lois, F., & Franco, M. (2010). Early identification of atherosclerotic disease by noninvasive imaging. Nature Reviews Cardiology, 7(6), 327–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gahmberg, C. G., Valmu, L., Kotovuori, A., Kotovuori, P., Hilden, T. J., Fagerholm, S., & Tian, L. (1999). Leukocyte adhesion-an integrated molecular process at the leukocyte plasma membrane. Bioscience Reports, 19(4), 273–281.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez-Amaro, R., & Sanchez-Madrid, F. (1999). Cell adhesion molecules: Selectins and integrins. Critical Reviews in Immunology, 19(5–6), 389–429.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Worthylake, R. A., & Burridge, K. (2001). Leukocyte transendothelial migration: Orchestrating the underlying molecular machinery. Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 13(5), 569–577.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Division of General Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Manjunath Harlapur

  2. Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Daichi Shimbo

Authors
  1. Manjunath Harlapur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daichi Shimbo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manjunath Harlapur .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc Gellman

Section Editor information

  1. School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Linda C. Baumann

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Harlapur, M., Shimbo, D. (2019). Adhesion Molecules. In: Gellman, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1254-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1254-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation