Involved in forming contacts between cells (focal contacts) and between them and the extracellular matrix. Several families of such molecules have been identified by Gerald M. Edelman and colleagues, among others. Cell-cell adhesion molecules (CAMS) can be either calcium dependent or independent, the former including cadherins, inter grins and selections, and which appear to be important in tissue-specific cell-cell adhesion during vertebrate embryogenesis (e.g., in the binding of blastomeres). Calcium independent CAMS include immunogloblin-like proteins termed neural cell adhesion molecules (N-CAMs), which are important in determining the shapes of cells. Most integrins appear to bind cells to their extracelluar matrix, and are also present in the growth cones of axons where they play a role in the guidance of axons during their migration and growth.
See Axon pathway selection, Blastomere, Blastula, Cadherins, Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), Cell locomotion, Embryogenesis, Extracellular matrix, Growth cone, Integrins, Neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM), Oligpsaccharides, Peripheral nervous system (PNS)