ArticleCurrent biology : CB2021
Desmosomes polarize and integrate chemical and mechanical signaling to govern epidermal tissue form and function.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Molecular Changes Induced by Carbon Dioxide Laser in Hailey-Hailey Disease: A Potential Mechanism Underlying Treatment Efficacy.International journal of dermatology · 2026Trial
- Modeling human embryo adhesion using a microfluidic platform.Science advances · 2026Article
- Ectodermal loss of ARHGAP29 alters epithelial morphology and disrupts murine palatogenesis.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Hydrogel-based neural engineering for skin wound healing.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- AI driven 3D subcellular RPE map discovers cell state transitions in establishment of apical-basal polarity.NPJ artificial intelligence · 2026Article
- Shaping epithelial tissues by stem cell mechanics in development and cancer.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2025Review
- Microvesicles Derived from Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells Regulate Macrophage Activation DuringJournal of proteome research · 2025Article
- The transmembrane domain of the desmosomal cadherin desmoglein-1 governs lipid raft association to promote desmosome adhesive strength.Molecular biology of the cell · 2024Article
- Article
- scHolography: a computational method for single-cell spatial neighborhood reconstruction and analysis.Genome biology · 2024Article
- Desmosomes at a glance.Journal of cell science · 2024Review
- PRSS3/mesotrypsin as a putative regulator of the biophysical characteristics of epidermal keratinocytes in superficial layers.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- PP2A-B55alpha controls keratinocyte adhesion through dephosphorylation of the Desmoplakin C-terminus.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- MicroRNA-205 promotes hair regeneration by modulating mechanical properties of hair follicle stem cells.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Structure and regulation of desmosomes in intercalated discs: Lessons from epithelia.Journal of anatomy · 2023Review
- Surface roughness modulates EGFR signaling and stemness of triple-negative breast cancer cells.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2023Article
- Epidermal stratification requires retromer-mediated desmoglein-1 recycling.Developmental cell · 2022Article
- Organotypic Human Skin Cultures Incorporating Primary Melanocytes.Current protocols · 2022Article
- Plectin pulls it together, coupling the cortical actin and intermediate filament cytoskeletons.The Journal of cell biology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The epidermis is a stratified epithelium in which structural and functional features are polarized across multiple cell layers. This type of polarity is essential for establishing the epidermal barrier, but how it is created and sustained is poorly understood. Previous work identified a role for the classic cadherin/filamentous-actin network in establishment of epidermal polarity. However, little is known about potential roles of the most prominent epidermal intercellular junction, the desmosome, in establishing epidermal polarity, in spite of the fact that desmosome constituents are patterned across the apical to basal cell layers. Here, we show that desmosomes and their associated intermediate filaments (IFs) are key regulators of mechanical polarization in epidermis, whereby basal and suprabasal cells experience different forces that drive layer-specific functions. Uncoupling desmosomes and IF or specific targeting of apical desmosomes through depletion of the superficial desmosomal cadherin, desmoglein 1, impedes basal stratification in an in vitro competition assay and suprabasal tight junction barrier functions in 3D reconstructed epidermis. Surprisingly, disengaging desmosomes from IF also accelerated the expression of differentiation markers, through precocious activation of the mechanosensitive transcriptional regulator serum response factor (SRF) and downstream activation of epidermal growth factor receptor family member ErbB2 by Src family kinase (SFK)-mediated phosphorylation. This Dsg1-SFK-ErbB2 axis also helps maintain tight junctions and barrier function later in differentiation. Together, these data demonstrate that the desmosome-IF network is a critical contributor to the cytoskeletal-adhesive machinery that supports the polarized function of the epidermis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.