Intercellular AdhesionNot all physi

Intercellular Adhesion
Not all physical contacts between cells in a multicellular
organism are fleeting touches. In fact, most cells are in
physical contact with other cells at all times, usually as
members of organized tissues such as those in the lungs,
heart, or gut. These cells and the mass of other cells clustered around them form long-lasting or permanent connections with each other called cell junctions (figure 7.15).
The nature of the physical connections between the cells of
a tissue in large measure determines what the tissue is like.
Indeed, a tissue’s proper functioning often depends critically upon how the individual cells are arranged within it.
Just as a house cannot maintain its structure without nails
and cement, so a tissue cannot maintain its characteristic
architecture without the appropriate cell junctions