Can someone explain junctional proteins to me, ie desmosomes, zonula adherens etc.

Question

blues · Answer

Junction proteins anchor the cytoskeletons of adjacent cells together. In general, the cytoskeletons of both cells interact with protein complexes embedded in the cell membranes. These protein complexes have extracellular domains which interact to 'join' both cells.

There are many different classes of junction and many different types of protein associated with each one, so that is a very general description.