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CHAPTER 11 - SKIN
Histology Guide
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MICROGRAPH

NAME
EM 372 Desmosomes
TISSUE
Thin Skin
IMAGE SIZE
10,258 x 10,955 pixels
337 MB
FILE SIZES
35,060 KB (grayscale)
48,776 KB (color)
MAGNIFICATION
Unknown
PIXEL SIZE
0.1645 nm
SOURCE
Karen Holbrook
Department of Biological Structure
School of Medicine
University of Washington
Seattle, WA

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EM 372 Desmosome

Desmosomes

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of desmosomes in the stratum spinosum of thin skin. This tangential section cuts through cross-sections of several “spinous” processes that interconnect adjacent keratinocytes.

Desmosomes (macula adherens) are specialized spot-like junctional complexes for cell-to-cell adhesion.

  • Keratinocytes (green and tan) - primary cell type found in the outer layer of skin (epidermis)
    • Keratin Filaments (blue) - intermediate filaments
  • Desmosomes (, ,) - disc-shaped structures joining the cell surface of adjacent cells
    • Attachment Plaques (purple) - dense protein plaque inside the plasma membrane connected to keratin filaments (blue)
      • Desmoplakin and plakoglobin - anchoring proteins that bind the cytoplasmic domains of cadherins to intermediate filaments
    • Cadherins (yellow) - transmembrane linker proteins that span the extracellular space between adjacent cell membranes
      • Desmoglein and desmocollin

Desmosomes are abundant on the lateral surfaces of epithelial cells that must withstand mechanical stress (e.g., skin).

Courtesy of Karen Hollbrook, Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle, WA.

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