The role of junctional communication in animal tissues

Summary Permeable intercellular junctions are a common feature of most animal tissues. These junctions allow the free exchange of small ions and molecules between all the cells in coupled populations. Such limited syncytial interaction contributes to the integration of individual cells into organized tissues. Presented in the symposium on Molecular and Morphological Aspects of Cell-Cell Communication at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Tissue Culture Association, St. Louis, Missouri, June 1–5, 1980. This symposium was supported in part by Contract 263-MD-025754 from the National Cancer Institute and the Fogarty International Center.