Cell-Cell Interactions and Cross Talk Described in Normal and Disease Conditions: Morphological Approach

Abstract

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/48435 IntroductionThe contact between cells and their microenvironment is fundamental both during development and for the preservation of tissue structure. Picking out the signals coming from the surrounding environment enable cells to react promptly to changes that may occur. Various molecular mechanisms explain the ability of cells to sense the microenvironment could be grouped into two major classes: (1) the transmission of signals in the form of soluble molecules which interact with cellular receptors, such as growth factors, cytokines, hormones, etc., and (2) the interaction of cells with structural components of their environment, namely other cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) [1].Cell-cell interactions are central to the function of many organ systems. A common theme for heterotypic cell interactions is the interaction of parenchymal cells with nonparenchymal neighbors with resultant modulation of cell growth, migration, and/or differentiation. Specifically, these interactions are of fundamental importance in physiology [2,3], pathophysiology [4,5], cancer [6,7] developmental biology [8,9], wound healing [10,11], and attempts to replace tissue function through 'tissueengineering' [12,13]. Further understanding of how cell-cell interactions modulate tissue function will allow us to gain fundamental biological insight as well as suggest approaches that will allow the manipulation of tissue function in vitro for therapeutic applications in vitro for therapeutic applications [14]. Cell-cell interaction and cross talk phenomena during embryonic periodCells are the true miracle of evolution. Once the basic building block, the eukaryotic cell, became available, the form of metazoans evolved by changing the arrangement of cells with respect to each other. Cell-cell interaction in embryo was described in literature to have a