Intercellular junctions are specialized regions on cell borders that allow connections between neighboring cells. Intercellular junctions can be organized into three functional groups:

  • Occluding junctions—seal epithelial cells together to prevent leakage of molecules from one epithelial sheet to the other
  • Anchoring junctions—mechanically link cells and their cytoskeletons to adjacent cells or to the extracellular matrix
  • Communicating junctions—mediate the passage of chemical and electrical signals between interacting cells

Cell adhesion through intercellular junctions is essential to the body. A change in or loss of cell adhesion affects cell structure, cellular functioning and communication, and the extracellular matrix, which can result in severe health problems and diseases.

Intercellular junction marker antibodies can aid in the study of the structure and functions of intercellular junctions. Intercellular junction marker antibodies can also help elucidate the role or roles that a protein may play in a number of tasks that are centered in or influenced by intercellular junctions. Invitrogen intercellular junction marker antibodies are designed to dependably detect the key intercellular junction targets. Each antibody is validated for use in various applications. Key intercellular junction marker targets include:

Applications

Immunohistochemical analysis of PAR3
Immunohistochemical analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded human platelets using a F2RL2/PAR3 polyclonal antibody (Cat. No. PA5-33529) at a 2.8-4.6 µg/mL dilution. Heat-induced antigen retrieval was performed prior to staining.
Immunofluorescence analysis of Metadherin was done on 70% confluent log phase A549 cells. The cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 10 minutes, permeabilized with 0.1% Triton™ X-100 for 10 minutes, and blocked with 1% BSA for 1 hour at room temperature. The cells were labeled with Metadherin Rabbit Polyclonal Antibody (Cat. No. 40-6500) at 2 µg/mL in 0.1% BSA and incubated for 3 hours at room temperature and then labeled with Goat anti-Rabbit IgG (H+L) Superclonal Secondary Antibody, Alexa Fluor 488 conjugate (Cat. No. A27034) at a dilution of 1:2000 for 45 minutes at room temperature (Panel a: green). Nuclei (Panel b: blue) were stained with SlowFade Gold Antifade Mountant with DAPI (Cat. No. S36938). F-actin (Panel c: red) was stained with Alexa Fluor 555 Rhodamine Phalloidin (Cat. No. R415, 1:300). Panel d is a merged image showing cytoplasmic localization. Panel e is a no primary antibody control. The images were captured at 60X magnification.

Resources

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.