THE ROLE OF CELL-ADHESION MOLECULES IN CRANIOFACIAL DEVELOPMENT

The last decade has seen classification and characterization of previo usly identified glycoproteins which have been associated with cell adh esion. More recently, it has been realized that the range of these mol ecules is even wider than originally thought. Cell adhesion molecules are important in early development and their role in craniofacial deve lopment is now apparent. Furthermore, the interaction of cell adhesion molecules in other developmental phenomena such as epithelial mesench ymal transformation (EMT), reinforces the suggestion that these molecu les are important in the later stages of development, particularly org anogenesis. This article reviews the role of cell adhesion molecules i n embryogenesis, with a particular emphasis on foetal craniofacial dev elopment.