Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting| Aussois 2019

Biology and Physics Confront Cell-Cell Adhesion

Monday Speaker Abstracts

CELL-CELL ADHESION: KNOWN KNOWNS AND KNOWN UNKNOWNS Alpha Yap 1 ; 1 University of Queensland, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Brisbane, Australia Cell-cell adhesion is a fundamental determinant of metazoan development and tissue homeostasis. A major advance in elucidating this problem came in the late 1970s, with the independent discovery of cadherin cell-cell adhesion receptors by Masatoshi Takeichi and Rolf Kemler. Since then, we have made major progress in characterizing the molecular mechanisms of cadherin adhesion. In particular, we have come to appreciate that cadherins function as dynamic composites with the cortical cytoskeleton, which are conditioned by cell signaling, the plasma membrane itself, and membrane traffic. In contrast, the physical biology of cadherins and cell-cell adhesion has been relatively neglected until now. A goal of this conference is to ask how understanding the physics of adhesion can guide, and be constrained, by the biology of cadherin adhesion. And, conversely, how our knowledge of the biology of cell-cell adhesion can provide new challenges for physics. To set the scene for our discussion, I will: a) Provide an overview of the cell biology of cadherin adhesion; and b) Outline some outstanding biological problems that we have yet to resolve.

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