. "Reviewed: Ranganathan, S, 2008-06-11 19:13:33"^^ . "Authored: Schulze-Osthoff, K, 2008-05-18 10:00:05"^^ . "Edited: Matthews, L, 2008-06-12 00:23:53"^^ . "Apoptotic cells show dramatic rearrangements of tight junctions, adherens junctions, and desmosomes (Abreu et al., 2000). Desmosome-specific members of the cadherin superfamily of cell adhesion molecules including desmoglein-3, plakophilin-1 and desmoplakin are cleaved by caspases after onset of apoptosis (Weiske et al., 2001). Cleavage results in the disruption of the desmosome structure and thus contributes to cell rounding and disintegration of the intermediate filament system (Weiske et al., 2001)."^^ . . . . . . . . "Apoptotic cleavage of cell adhesion proteins"^^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .