Desmosomes are intercellular junctions that form tight links between adjacent cells. Desmoplakin is an obligate component of functional desmosomes that attaches intermediate filaments to desmosomal plaques. It is involved in the organization of desmosomal cadherin-plakoglobin complexes into discrete plasma membrane domains. The N-terminus of desmoplakin is essential for localisation to the desmosome and interaction with plakophilin 1 and plakoglobin. The C-terminus of desmoplakin binds to intermediate filaments. The central region of desmoplakin comprises a coiled-coil rod domain that mediates homodimerisation. There are two isoforms of desmoplakin - desmoplakin I, which is an obligate component of all desmosomes, and desmoplakin II, which is predominantly expressed in tissues and cells of stratified origin. Mutations in the gene encoding desmoplakin result in a number of cardiomyopathies and keratodermas as well as the autoimmune disease paraneoplastic pemphigus.