Fig. 1.

Architecture of the cardiac desmosome. The approximate locations of the core proteins are shown, including the structures of DSG2's EC1 domain (green ribbon) and the arm repeat domains of plakoglobin (blue) and PKP2 (purple). Also shown are crystal structures of the first four SRs of the desmoplakin plakin domain (SR3–6) and PRDs B and C. The unstructured DSC2 and DSG2 C-termini are shown as wavy lines, as is the protease-sensitive hinge between the long and short arms of the desmoplakin plakin domain [24]. The N-termini of the proteins are labeled and their respective binding sites are juxtaposed. Both homophilic and heterophilic interactions between desmosomal cadherins may take place in the extracellular space, but for simplicity, only homophilic interactions are shown.