THE DESMOSOME - STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND A CQUIRED PATHOLOGY

The essential function of the skin is that of a barriere against the o utside. The epidermis is the tissue which assures the solidity and the resistance of the skin against forces of traction. The desmosomes, al lowing the adhesion of epidermal cells, the keratinocytes, between the m, are the structures of resistance of the epidermis. This adhesion fu nction is possible thanks to the interactions between the desmosomial molecules and cytosqueletal filaments. Currently fifteen desmosomal pr oteins implicated in this process have been characterized. The role of desmosome in integrity of epidermis is demonstrated by the existence of the auto immune dermatosis, the pemphigus, in which the inflammator y reaction against desmosomal proteins results in the loss of the cohe sion of keratinocytes.