Medical Definition of Focal adhesion

1. Areas of close apposition and thus presumably anchorage points, of the plasma membrane of a fibroblast (for example) to the substratum over which it is moving. Usually 1m x 0.2 m with the long axis parallel to the direction of movement, always associated with a cytoplasmic microfilament bundle that is attached via several proteins to the plasma membrane at an area of high protein concentration (this is noticeably electron dense in electron micrographs). Focal adhesions tend to be characteristic of slow moving cells. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Focal Adhesion

foamless
foamlike
foams
foamy
foamy agents
foamy viruses
fob off
fobbed
fobbing
fobs
foc's'le lamp
focaccia
focaccias
focal
focal adhesion (current term)
focal amyloidosis
focal and segmental hyalinosis
focal appendicitis
focal condensing osteitis
focal depth
focal depths
focal dermal hypoplasia
focal distance
focal embolic glomerulonephritis
focal epilepsy
focal epithelial hyperplasia
focal gallbladder wall thickening
focal gigantism
focal glomerulonephritis

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