Cell adhesion is the binding of a cell to neighboring cells or to the extracellular matrix, mediated by specialized transmembrane adhesion molecules and their cytoskeletal and signaling partners. The principal families include cadherins, which form calcium-dependent cell-cell junctions; integrins, which couple cells…
Cell adhesion is the binding of a cell to neighboring cells or to the extracellular matrix, mediated by specialized transmembrane adhesion molecules and their cytoskeletal and signaling partners. The principal families include cadherins, which form calcium-dependent cell-cell junctions; integrins, which couple cells to matrix proteins and transmit bidirectional signals; selectins, which mediate transient leukocyte rolling; and the immunoglobulin superfamily, including vascular adhesion molecules such as VCAM-1. Adhesive contacts establish and maintain tissue architecture, anchor epithelia, organize junctions that regulate permeability, and provide mechanical and biochemical cues that influence proliferation, survival, differentiation, and migration. Dynamic regulation of adhesion is essential during embryonic development, immune surveillance, and wound repair, while its dysregulation is a hallmark of disease: loss of cell-cell adhesion and altered integrin signaling facilitate tumor invasion and metastasis, and adhesion molecules govern inflammatory cell recruitment. Adhesion also underlies cell attachment to biomaterial scaffolds in tissue engineering. The journal publishes peer-reviewed research in cell and molecular biology relevant to adhesion, including studies of adhesion-molecule gene expression in tumors, biomaterial scaffolds and cell-matrix interactions in tissue engineering, tumor-cell behavior in experimental systems, and the broader cellular processes that depend on controlled attachment and detachment.
12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 12 articles above have been cited 120 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Cell Adhesion, linking to each citing work.