Cell Junctions

Start with a visual overview

The mind map Connections between cells groups junctions as occluding, anchoring and communicating. It also includes gap junctions and describes how occluding junctions prevent movement of material between cells. Use it to get a sense of the categories before working through more detailed questions.

Another mind map distinguishes transient and stable cell-cell junctions and includes tight junctions. Comparing the maps can help you see how junctions are grouped in different ways.

Practice with flashcards

Cell Biology: Cell Junctions asks about tight junctions, desmosomes, adherens junctions and hemidesmosomes. It is a useful next step if you want to practice distinguishing those junction types and their roles.

The flashcards on adhesion in epithelia ask which junctions link cytoskeletons from cell to cell and about factors that maintain tissue organization. Eukaryotic Cell Junctions also includes questions about examining cell-cell junctions, including freeze fracture and conventional TEM procedures.

Use quizzes alongside maps

Cytoskeleton and Cell Junctions asks about molecules exchanged through gap junctions and the channel-forming proteins found in vertebrate gap junctions. Cell Membrane 3 includes questions about junctions as multiprotein complexes and their functions.

After working through a quiz, return to a map and compare its categories with the terms in the questions. The maps offer an overview, while the quizzes let you practice responding to specific prompts.

Keep the page in context

Cell Junctions is a section of The Cell (Cytology) unit in Histology and embryology. The resources on this page approach its topic through diagrams, questions and cards, so you can move between an overview and more specific details.

Choose a resource that fits what you want to practice and explore it at your own pace.