The Scripps Research Institute Study Defines the Long-Sought Structure of a Protein Necessary for Cell-Cell Interaction

Scientists know that cells in all higher organisms cells need to bind to each other for the development, architecture, maintenance and function of tissues. Mysteries have remained, however, about exactly how cells manage this feat. Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have now solved part of this puzzle by defining the structure of a protein known as a-catenin, which is essential to this process. The work was published online ahead of print on January 6, 2012, by the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.