Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về sinh học được đăng trên tạp chí sinh học Journal of Biology đề tài: Endothelial adherens junctions and the actin cytoskeleton: an ‘infinity net’? | Lampugnani Journal of Biology 2010 9 16 http content 9 3 16 Journal of Biology MINIREVIEW L__ Endothelial adherens junctions and the actin cytoskeleton an infinity net Maria Grazia Lampugnani See research article http 1741-7007 8 11 Abstract A recent paper in BMC Biology reports that actin stress fibers in adjacent cultured endothelial cells are linked through adherens junctions. This organization might provide a super-cellular network that could enable coordinated signaling and structural responses in endothelia. The title of this minireview is inspired by the work of the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama who paints wonderful networks as one of her favorite subjects. As an artist she can evoke images and concepts that are sometimes beyond her own knowledge in this case her idea of a continuous network well suits a model of intercellular cytoskeletal linking suggested by a recent paper published in BMC Biology by Millan et al. 1 . Working with cultured human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells they find that actin-based stress fibers in adjacent endothelial cells in confluent culture can become linked through adherens junctions. This organization could in theory enable a communication network extending throughout the endothelium as well as maintaining structural coherence and increasing resistance to stress. This capacity could be crucial to the function and adaptability of the endothelium which is continuously exposed to changes in blood flow whether in normal physiologic situations or during inflammation or angiogenesis. This is a novel extension of a concept first used for epithelial sheets 2 to endothelial monolayers. The adherens junction The intercellular junctions between endothelial cells maintain endothelial integrity controlling the movement of solutes between bloodstream and tissues and the flow Correspondence IFOM FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology via Adamello 16-20139 .
