Network of proteins and molecules outside cells that provides structural support for cells
Extracellular matrix
Illustration depicting extracellular matrix (basement membrane and interstitial matrix) in relation to epithelium, endothelium and connective tissue
Details
Identifiers
Latin
matrix extracellularis
Acronym(s)
ECM
MeSH
D005109
TH
H2.00.03.0.02001
Anatomical terms of microanatomy
[edit on Wikidata]
In biology, the extracellular matrix (ECM),[1][2] also called intercellular matrix (ICM), is a network consisting of extracellular macromolecules and minerals, such as collagen, enzymes, glycoproteins and hydroxyapatite that provide structural and biochemical support to surrounding cells.[3][4][5] Because multicellularity evolved independently in different multicellular lineages, the composition of ECM varies between multicellular structures; however, cell adhesion, cell-to-cell communication and differentiation are common functions of the ECM.[6]
The animal extracellular matrix includes the interstitial matrix and the basement membrane.[7] Interstitial matrix is present between various animal cells (i.e., in the intercellular spaces). Gels of polysaccharides and fibrous proteins fill the interstitial space and act as a compression buffer against the stress placed on the ECM.[8] Basement membranes are sheet-like depositions of ECM on which various epithelial cells rest. Each type of connective tissue in animals has a type of ECM: collagen fibers and bone mineral comprise the ECM of bone tissue; reticular fibers and ground substance comprise the ECM of loose connective tissue; and blood plasma is the ECM of blood.
The plant ECM includes cell wall components, like cellulose, in addition to more complex signaling molecules.[9] Some single-celled organisms adopt multicellular biofilms in which the cells are embedded in an ECM composed primarily of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS).[10]
^"Matrix - Definition and Examples - Biology Online Dictionary". 24 December 2021.
^"Body Tissues | SEER Training". training.seer.cancer.gov. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
^Bonnans C, Chou J, Werb Z (December 2014). "Remodelling the extracellular matrix in development and disease". Nature Reviews. Molecular Cell Biology. 15 (12): 786–801. doi:10.1038/nrm3904. PMC 4316204. PMID 25415508.
^Michel G, Tonon T, Scornet D, Cock JM, Kloareg B (October 2010). "The cell wall polysaccharide metabolism of the brown alga Ectocarpus siliculosus. Insights into the evolution of extracellular matrix polysaccharides in Eukaryotes". The New Phytologist. 188 (1): 82–97. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03374.x. PMID 20618907.
^Abedin M, King N (December 2010). "Diverse evolutionary paths to cell adhesion". Trends in Cell Biology. 20 (12): 734–42. doi:10.1016/j.tcb.2010.08.002. PMC 2991404. PMID 20817460.
^Kumar; Abbas; Fausto (2005). Robbins and Cotran: Pathologic Basis of Disease (7th ed.). Philadelphia: Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-7216-0187-8.
^Alberts B, Bray D, Hopin K, Johnson A, Lewis J, Raff M, Roberts K, Walter P (2004). "Tissues and Cancer". Essential cell biology. New York and London: Garland Science. ISBN 978-0-8153-3481-1.
^Brownlee, Colin (October 2002). "Role of the extracellular matrix in cell-cell signalling: paracrine paradigms". Current Opinion in Plant Biology. 5 (5): 396–401. doi:10.1016/S1369-5266(02)00286-8. PMID 12183177.
^Kostakioti M, Hadjifrangiskou M, Hultgren SJ (April 2013). "Bacterial biofilms: development, dispersal, and therapeutic strategies in the dawn of the postantibiotic era". Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine. 3 (4): a010306. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a010306. PMC 3683961. PMID 23545571.
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In biology, the extracellularmatrix (ECM), also called intercellular matrix (ICM), is a network consisting of extracellular macromolecules and minerals...
Extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) are natural polymers of high molecular weight secreted by microorganisms into their environment. EPSs establish...
capillaries (angiogenesis), and infiltrated inflammatory cells in a loose extracellularmatrix. During the migratory phase of wound healing, granulation tissue...
or adhesion between neighboring cells or between a cell and the extracellularmatrix in animals. They also maintain the paracellular barrier of epithelia...
called tendon cells (tenocytes). Tendon cells synthesize the tendon's extracellularmatrix, which abounds with densely-packed collagen fibers. The collagen...
in cell content or extracellularmatrix (extracellularmatrix) content. The most common way being to look at the extracellularmatrix content. The SLP has...
Collectively, these enzymes are capable of degrading all kinds of extracellularmatrix proteins, but also can process a number of bioactive molecules. They...
cells called chondrocytes that produce a large amount of collagenous extracellularmatrix, abundant ground substance that is rich in proteoglycan and elastin...
(or contact-dependent signalling) is a type of cell–cell or cell–extracellularmatrix signalling in multicellular organisms that requires close contact...
and encased by collagen fibers and other substances that form the extracellularmatrix. Cardiac muscle contracts in a similar manner to skeletal muscle...
and synthesized) per day. As one of the chief components of the extracellularmatrix, it contributes significantly to cell proliferation and migration...
Ovine forestomach matrix (OFM) (marketed as AROA ECM) is a layer of decellularized extracellularmatrix (ECM) biomaterial isolated from the propria submucosa...
which cells that are frequently embedded within a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) adhere to each other and/or to a surface...
Laminins are a family of glycoproteins of the extracellularmatrix of all animals. They are major constituents of the basement membrane, namely the basal...
vessels, immune cells, fibroblasts and signaling molecules) and the extracellularmatrix. Mutual interaction between cancer cells and the different components...
continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with little extracellularmatrix. Epithelial tissues line the outer surfaces of organs and blood vessels...
the extracellularmatrix that binds to membrane-spanning receptor proteins called integrins. Fibronectin also binds to other extracellularmatrix proteins...
junctions or indirect interaction, where cells attach to surrounding extracellularmatrix, a gel-like structure containing molecules released by cells into...
association of the lipid membrane with the cytoskeleton filaments and the extracellularmatrix through membrane proteins. The current model describes important...
biological cell typically with a spindle shape that synthesizes the extracellularmatrix and collagen, produces the structural framework (stroma) for animal...
time. A key feature of wound healing is stepwise repair of lost extracellularmatrix (ECM) that forms the largest component of the dermal skin layer....
zinc-metalloproteinases family involved in the degradation of the extracellularmatrix. In humans the MMP9 gene encodes for a signal peptide, a propeptide...
Membrane protein Integral membrane protein Peripheral membrane protein Extracellularmatrix proteins Blood protein Mammalian Vertebrate Plant Bacterial proteins...
cells usually express other cadherin types such as N-cadherin. The extracellularmatrix (ECM) is involved in keeping tissues separated, providing structural...
extracts cells from tissues, leaving just the extracellularmatrix. This has the benefit of a fully formed matrix specific to the desired tissue type. However...
as pyrophosphate), can occur in the extracellularmatrix of bones and teeth, contributing locally to cause matrix hypomineralization (osteomalacia/odontomalacia)...
inflammation by stimulating cytokine release and is also involved in extracellularmatrix remodelling. Elevated levels of granzyme B are also implicated in...
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