Organization and function of the interface between cadherin and the cytoskeleton

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Cadherins are multifunctional adhesion receptors involved in animal development and tissue homeostasis. We are particularly interested in the role cadherins play in epithelia, the major tissue type found in animals. Cadherins link cells together at prominent contact points called adherens junctions. When cadherins do not function normally, epithelia collapse or develop abnormal shapes, which is often lethal to the animal. Cadherins can only function when they are linked to the cytoskeleton of a cell. This linkage is crucial to form and maintain adherens junctions. Moreover, adherens junctions and the cytoskeleton have to cooperate to shape and maintain tissues. Cadherins bind to several cytoplasmic factors including α-Catenin, a protein that we have studied in recent years, and that is the major linker between cadherin and the cytoskeleton. The importance of the linkage between cadherin and the cytoskelton is highlighted by the fact that loss of α-Catenin causes the same defects as loss of cadherin. However, the interface between cadherin/α-Catenin and actin is very complex as not only α-Catenin can bind to the actin filaments of the cytoskeleton, but has also several binding partners that can bind to actin. Much remains to be learned about how this interface operates to regulate epithelial development and stability.