Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Aip1p Dynamics Are Altered by the R256H Mutation in Actin
Published on: July 30, 2014
Connecting cell adhesion to the actin polymerization machinery: vinculin as the missing link?
1Division of Cell Biology, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, 11-43 Bath Street, UK. m.bailly@ucl.ac.uk
Abstract:
Cell migration is essential to many physiological and pathological processes such as embryogenesis, wound healing or metastasis. This complex process involves a tight coordination between three essential steps - protrusion, adhesion and retraction. Although historically protrusion and adhesion have been linked through structural protein-protein interactions, a direct functional link between the two has long eluded biologists. Recent work from the Burridge laboratory now suggests that vinculin, a cytoskeletal protein involved in the building of the adhesion scaffold, could be the missing link that connects early adhesion sites to the actin-driven protrusive machinery.
Related Concept Videos
Actin Filament Depolymerization
In F-actin, the ADF/cofilin proteins...
Formation of Higher-order Actin Filaments
The high-order actin networks...
Actin Polymerization and Cell Motility
Actin cytoskeleton dynamics can produce pushing, pulling, and resistance forces that help the cell to migrate.
Mechanism of Filopodia Formation
Their main function is to guide migrating cells during normal tissue morphogenesis or cancer metastasis by recognizing and making initial contacts with the extracellular matrix. However, they can also act as stationary cell anchors or help to establish communication...
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...
Tension Response at Adherens Junctions
α-Catenin as a Mechanosensory Protein
The α-catenin of adherens junctions is an allosteric protein with three VH (vinculin homology) domains...

