title: On the adhesion of vesicles by cell adhesion molecules.
abstract: This paper gives a detailed analysis of experiments on the kinetics of aggregation of lipid vesicles containing neural cell adhesion molecules (N-CAM). An explanation for the dependence of the "initial aggregation rate," kagg, on the square of the vesicle concentration is given, accounting both for Brownian motion of the vesicles and shear effects. A model in which trimers of N-CAM are one-half of the molecular unit bridging two vesicles explains the observed dependence of kagg on up to the sixth power of the lateral N-CAM concentration and corroborates electron micrographic evidence for N-CAM "triskelions."
mesh_terms: D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000502:physiology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D008081:Liposomes; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D008081:Liposomes