Cell Junctions I

(Communicating/Gap/Nexus) and
Anchoring(Spot/Macula & Belt/Zonula)
&
Cell Junctions II
(Occluding/Tight)
 Learning outcomes
By the end of these 2 interactive sessions,
1st year medical students are expected to:
• Relate the structure of gap and occluding
junctions with their functions.

• Relate the structure of communicating and

anchoring cell junctions with their functions.
 Cell surroundings:
• Each cell is surrounded by extracellular
space. (we all need a personal space)

• In epithelium & other closely packed

tissues, intercellular gap is only 20 nm.
(ho laakh ghairon ka ghair koee....
Wo aik dost jo mujh ko juda sa lugta hay..
Phool bhi hoon durmiaan..)
 Forces holding the cells:
1) Mutual force of cohesion. (Akhoout)

2) Cell junctions:
specialized structural arrangements
present at various sites.
 Cell Junctions:
Factors responsible for the basis of classification
Shape & extent of Relative closeness & nature of
contact area: cell contact:

1) Limited extent: 1) No intercellular space, cell

e.g., MACULA (spot membranes in contact / fused:
/ punctate area) e.g., OCCLUDENS.
2) Intercellular space is 20-25 nm
2) Around entire cell: wide & dense granular material
e.g., ZONULA (belt in intercellular space & on
/ girdle like) cytoplasmic surfaces of adjacent
cell membranes:
e.g., ADHERENS.
3) Very narrow intercellular space
= 3 nm:
e.g., GAP junctions.
 4 Types of Cell Junctions:
1) Macula Adherens (Desmosome or Spot
Desmosome).

2) Zonula Adherens (Belt Desmosome).

Desmosomes help to hold cells together

1) Zonula Occludens (Tight Junction).

2) Gap Junction (Nexus).-Form a cytoplasmic

tunnel for diffusion of small molecules
Junqueira’s histology: • In the zonula occludens
3 cells of intestinal the outer laminae of
opposed membranes fuse.
epithelium shown
• Both the zonula occludens
and zonula adherens form
a continuous ribbon
around the cell apex.

• the desmosomes and gap

junctions are spot-like
plaques.

• Infoldings of the
membrane and microvilli
amplify the membrane
area and increase
exchanges across the
membrane and adhesion
between cells.
• Location: Between 1. Macula Adherens:
epithelial cells, on lateral (Desmosome or
cell interfaces with their
long axes perpendicular to Spot Desmosome)
basement membrane of
epithelium.
• Shape: Small discoid
structures.
• Intercellular gap: 25 nm
• Adhesive glycoprotein:
Desmocollin

• Intra-cytoplasmic densities:
Attachment plaques
beneath plasma
membranes of adjacent
cells.

• Intermediate filaments: Are

inserted into attachment
plaque or make hairpin
loops & turn back into
cytoplasm.
• Location: between Hemi-
certain epithelial cells
& basal lamina. desmosomes:
• Shape: like half a
desmosome on
epithelial plasma
membrane only.
Sometimes basal
lamina facing the
hemi-desmosome is
thickened.

• Function: To bind the

epithelial cells to
basal lamina.
• Arrangement: as a girdle / 2. Zonula Adherens:
belt around each cell that
is joined.
(Belt Desmosome)

• Intercellular gap: Normal

width (20 nm).

• Bridging of gap: No bridge

of filaments, though
filaments & sub-membrane
cytoplasmic densities are
present.

• Location: among epithelial

cells, fibroblasts & smooth
muscle cells.
 Tight junctions/ Zonula Occludens

• They surround the apical

margins of cells in epithelia such
as intestinal mucosa, the walls
of renal tubules and choroid
plexus
• Made up of ridges- half from 1
cell half from other- which
adhere so strongly that at
junctional site that they obliterate
all the space between cells
• Occludins, Claudins, junctional
adhesion molecules are the
transmembrane proteins that
contribute totight junctions
 Tight junctions/ Zonula occludens

Tight junctions permit

passage of certain ions and
solutes by paracellular
pathway and it depends upon
protein makeup of the tight
junctions
Tight junctions
Tight junctions
• Arrangement: like a girdle. 3. Zonula Occludens:
(Tight Junction)
• Intercellular gap: No gap
due to apparent fusion of
plasma membranes of
adjacent cells.

• Location: intestinal mucosa

& urinary bladder mucosa.

• Function: important sealing

effect (prevent the change
in chemical composition of
urine).
• Intercellular gap: 2-3 nm only. It is
traversed by hollow tube-like
structures. 4. Gap Junction (Nexus)
• Function: permeable to colloidal
substances without entering the
ECF . Provide communication
channels between adjacent cells.
Also role in spread of electric
impulse from one cell (smooth /
cardiac cell) to another.
• Desmosomes Vs Nexus:
Nexus usually form limited
attachment plaques like
desmosomes, but sometimes
more extensive.
• Connexons: hexagonal arrays of
protein units. Six subunits
surrounding a channel.
• Regulators of diameter of
channels:
Increase in Ca2+ concentration
causes the subunits to slide
together, reducing the diameter of
the channel.
Diameter may also be regulated
by pH and voltage
 Gap junction: Fig: 1-13
• Each connexon is
made up of six Ganong
subunits.
• Each connexon in the
membrane of one cell
lines up with a
connexon in the
membrane of the
neighboring cell →
forming a channel
through which →
substances can pass
from one cell to
another without
entering the ECF.
Gap junctions
Cardiac muscles
Gap junctions
Tight junctions
 Mutant connexons →
Human disease
• X-linked form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease:
A peripheral neuropathy.

• Heterotaxia:
Multiple abnormalities with failure to
establish normal left-right asymmetry.

Other genes are probably involved.

 4. Gap Junction (Nexus)
Location: widely distributed in the body, e.g.,

• Cardiac & smooth muscles,

• Liver, kidney, thyroid, pancreas, adrenals,

• Urinary bladder,

• Nervous system (between neurons & between

glial cells),

• Skin.
 Junctional Complex:
• Series of cell junctions
between adjacent
epithelial cells =
junctional complex.

• Location: small
intestinal mucosa.

Comprises of:
• Zonula occludens +
zonula adherens +
macula adherens.