Defects in this apparatus underlie an enormous variety of diseases. Thus, the apparatus of cell junctions and the extracellular matrix is critical for every aspect of the organization, function, and dynamics of multicellular structures. Attachments to other cells and to extracellular matrix control the orientation and behavior of the cell’s cytoskeleton, thereby allowing cells to sense and respond to changes in the mechanical features of their environment.
The making and breaking of the attachments between cells and the modeling of the extracellular matrix govern the way cells move within the organism, guiding them as the body grows, develops, and repairs itself.
The mechanisms of cohesion govern the architecture of the body-its shape, its strength, and the arrangement of its different cell types. By one means or another, cells must cohere if they are to form an organized multicellular structure that can withstand and respond to the various external forces that try to pull it apart. Cells may be linked by direct interactions, or they may be held together within the extracellular matrix, a complex network of proteins and polysaccharide chains that the cells secrete. Of all the social interactions between cells in a multicellular organism, the most fundamental are those that hold the cells together. Cell Junctions and the Extracellular Matrix
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