ULTRASTRUCTURAL STUDIES OF THE EARLY JUNCTIONAL ZONE FORMED BY KERATINOCYTES SHOWING CONTACT INHIBITION OF MOVEMENT IN VITRO.

Epithelial cells (keratinocytes) from normal human epidermis show contact inhibition of movement in vitro. Fifteen minutes following collision, cells were fixed and ultrastructural studies of the contact zone were performed. Small, specialized junctions, not resembling desmosomes, were demonstrated linking the cells. Interlocking micro-pseudopodial cytoplasmic processes were also present. Both these structures might provide a means of limitation of cell overlap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]