Under culture conditions the egg nucleus of Trichoplax adhaerens reaches an unusually high and variable DNA content. Before the “fertilization membrane” is formed, the nucleus undergoes fragmentation. It is assumed that culture conditions differ from natural conditions by preventing the switch-over from the S-phase to the G2-phase of the cell cycle: DNA replication continues and nuclear divisio...

Adherens junctions (AJ) comprise a unique and widespread family of cellular contacts which displays a stable association, within the cells, with actin-containing microfilaments [Geiger et al., 19871. As discussed in several previous articles [Burridge et al., 1988; Woods and Couchman, 19881 AJ may be formed with different surfaces and assume a rather diverse morphology. They may be found in are...

PLEKHA7 is a junctional protein, which participates in a complex that stabilizes E-cadherin at the zonula adhaerens. Since E-cadherin is involved in epithelial morphogenesis, signaling, and tumor progression, we explored PLEKHA7 expression in cancer. PLEKHA7 expression was assessed in invasive ductal and lobular carcinomas of the breast by immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence and quantitati...

The ciliated ependyma of the rat brain consists of a sheet of epithelial cells, the luminal surface of which is reflected over ciliary shafts and numerous evaginations of irregular dimensions. The relatively straight lateral portions of the plasmalemma of contiguous cells are fused at discrete sites to form five-layered junctions or zonulae occludentes which obliterate the intercellular space. ...

When cultured fibroblasts (16C) are mildly dissociated with EGTA or trypsin/EDTA, they aggregate rapidly. The formation of aggregates has been found to involve junctions of the gap and adhaerens types which are seen by electron microscopy within minutes of allowing cells to come together. The process of adhesion between freshly dissociated, transformed 16C fibroblasts is therefore organized and...

The fiber cells of the middle layer of Trichoplax adhaerens are interconnected by slender extensions. Newly formed connections after mechanical disruption of the tissue studied in ultrathin sections revealed cytoplasmic continuity between the cell bodies, suggesting a syn­ cytial organisation of the fiber cell layer. The slender extensions connecting the cell bodies are traversed by microtubule...