Desmosomes are cadherin-based adhesion structures that mechanically couple the intermediate filament cytoskeleton of adjacent cells to confer mechanical stress resistance to tissues. We have recently described desmosomes as mesoscale lipid raft membrane domains that depend on raft dynamics for assembly, function, and disassembly. Lipid raft microdomains are regions of the plasma membrane enriched in sphingolipids and cholesterol. These domains participate in membrane domain heterogeneity, signaling and membrane trafficking. Cellular structures known to be dependent on raft dynamics include the post-synaptic density in neurons, the immunological synapse, and intercellular junctions, including desmosomes. In this review, we discuss the current state of the desmosome field and put forward new hypotheses for the role of lipid rafts in desmosome adhesion, signaling and epidermal homeostasis. Furthermore, we propose that differential lipid raft affinity of intercellular junction proteins is a central driving force in the organization of the epithelial apical junctional complex.

中文翻译：

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桥粒作为脂筏驱动膜结构域组织的模型。

桥粒是基于钙粘蛋白的粘附结构，它机械耦合相邻细胞的中间丝细胞骨架，赋予组织机械应力抵抗力。我们最近将桥粒描述为中尺度脂筏膜域，它依赖于筏动力学进行组装、功能和拆卸。脂筏微区是富含鞘脂和胆固醇的质膜区域。这些域参与膜域异质性、信号传导和膜运输。已知依赖于筏动力学的细胞结构包括神经元中的突触后密度、免疫突触和细胞间连接，包括桥粒。在这次审查中，我们讨论了桥粒领域的现状，并就脂筏在桥粒粘附、信号传导和表皮稳态中的作用提出了新的假设。此外，我们提出细胞间连接蛋白的不同脂筏亲和力是上皮顶端连接复合体组织的核心驱动力。