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NAL Agricultural Thesaurus
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Concept Breadcrumbs

Fields of Study > cell biology > cell structures > cell membranes > cell membrane structures > cell-matrix junctions > focal adhesions
Preferred Term:

focal adhesions

Definition:
An anchoring junction of the cell to a non-cellular substrate. It is composed of a specialized area of the plasma membrane where bundles of the actin cytoskeleton terminate and attach to the transmembrane linkers, integrins, which in turn attach through their extracellular domains to extracellular matrix proteins.
Concept Schemes:
NALT Full
Broader Concept:
cell-matrix junctions
Related Concepts:
Entry Terms:
  • focal contacts
  • cell-matrix adherens junctions
URI:
https://lod.nal.usda.gov/nalt/294139
Download this Concept:
RDF/XMLCreated 2017-03-02, last modified 2017-11-10