The Desmosomal Cadherin Desmoglein-2 Experiences Mechanical Tension as Demonstrated by a FRET-Based Tension Biosensor Expressed in Living Cells.

Cell-cell junctions are critical structures in a number of tissues for mechanically coupling cells together, cell-to-cell signaling, and establishing a barrier. In many tissues, desmosomes are an important component of cell-cell junctions. Loss or impairment of desmosomes presents with clinical phenotypes in the heart and skin as cardiac arrhythmias and skin blistering, respectively.