Name: D Cederlund
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
How do cells stay together?
Replies:
Cells have special molecules on their surfaces that act to attach them to
other cells, often in a very specific way, that is, only to certain types of other
cells. These molecules are called glycoproteins, a combination of protein and sugar,
and the general name for these molecules is extracellular matrix, or cell adhesion
molecules. Many of these molecules need calcium to work properly, so scientists
often remove calcium from around cells to get them to fall apart.
NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.