Caspase-mediated cleavage of Desmoglein 3 Authored: Schulze-Osthoff, K, 2007-09-03 07:52:18 EC Number: 3.4.22 Edited: Matthews, L, 2007-09-03 07:38:20 Edited: Matthews, L, 2007-10-09 13:44:38 Edited: Matthews, L, 2007-11-11 23:40:56 In epithelial cells, desmosomes are anchoring junctions that mediate strong cell-cell contacts. Desmosomal proteins are proteolytically targeted during apoptosis (Weiske et al., 2001). Desmogleins are a major component of the desmosome are specifically cleaved after onset of apoptosis. Cleavage of desmosomal proteins results in the disruption of the structure of desmosomes and contributes to cell rounding and disassembly of the intermediate filament network (Weiske et al., 2001). The cytosolic fragment has implications for the autoimmune disease, Pemphigus vulgaris (Tong et al. 2006). Pubmed11500511 Pubmed17254312 Reactome Database ID Release 43201631 Reactome, http://www.reactome.org ReactomeREACT_12082 Reviewed: Ranganathan, S, 2008-06-11 19:13:33