# DESMOSOMES--STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 1993 · $195,365

## Abstract

Two types of epithelial cell-cell junctions, desmosomes and adherens
junctions, are important in maintaining the integrity of epithelium.
Disruption of epidermal junctions results in inherited and acquired
blistering diseases, but the mechanisms of the disruption are unknown. To
learn more about component proteins and assembly of structurally important
junctions, we have purified proteins from preparations of mammalian
junctions from pig oral epithelium. One, a 37 kDa protein, has been cloned
and sequenced and has been found to be highly homologous with a family of
lectins, proteins with the ability to bind carbohydrates, in different
species; no other junction protein has been found to be a member of this
family of proteins. Studies with antibodies to the protein suggest
strongly that the protein is present in adherens junctions and indicate
that the protein has a restriction previously undescribed for junction
proteins (a) primarily to the oral epithelium and (b) to only suprabasal
cells within that epithelium. In other studies, we have also demonstrated
for the first time the presence of adherens junctions in mammalian
epidermis and have shown that these junctions are present in human skin.
We plan to continue studies of adherens junctions in human skin and to
further delineate the location of the 37 kDa probable adherens junction
protein in epithelium. Since the cDNA sequence and amino acid sequence are
highly homologous with a mammalian lectin, which binds lactose, we will
determine whether the 37 kDa protein can bind to sugars, especially
lactose. We will identify proteins to which this protein binds in
junctions and will attempt to find and clone the cDNA for the human
protein corresponding to the 37 kDa protein. To understand the structure
of the gene for the 37 kDa protein and thereby relate it to a correlative
human gene, we will clone and sequence the genomic DNA for the pig gene.
Finally we will continue to define the structure and possible function of
adherens junctions in human tissues with available antibodies and will use
organ culture in an effort to upregulate these junctions. These studies
will elucidate the structure and function of epithelial junctions and may
demonstrate a new function, the binding of carbohydrate, in a structural
protein of epithelial junctions.  These studies will increase our
understanding of the structure and function of these junctions and of
their assembly from component proteins.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3155358
- **Project number:** 2R01AR025871-15
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **SAM.gov UEI:** D3LHU66KBLD5
- **Principal Investigator:** EDWARD J O'KEEFE
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1993
- **Award amount:** $195,365
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1979-07-01 → 1998-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3155358

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3155358, DESMOSOMES--STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION (2R01AR025871-15). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-24 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3155358. Licensed CC0.

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