Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Study of the Actin Cytoskeleton in Live Endothelial Cells Expressing GFP-Actin
Published on: November 18, 2011
Interaction of cadherin with the actin cytoskeleton
W James Nelson1, Frauke Drees, Soichiro Yamada
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305-5435, USA.
Abstract:
Cadherins regulate cell-cell adhesion throughout embryonic development and in the adult organism, and defects in cadherin expression and function are characteristic of many disease states including cancer. Although extracellular binding between cadherins specifies adhesion between cells, the strength of the interaction is thought to be regulated by cadherin clustering through reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton. Protein-protein interactions have been described that could link cadherins either directly or indirectly to the actin cytoskeleton. Here, we describe these protein interactions, and examine critically the evidence that they link cadherins to the actin cytoskeleton.
Related Concept Videos
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...
Structure of Cadherins
Catenins
Catenins in Cell Junctions
Catenins bind to cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins and link them to different cytoskeletal proteins depending on the type of cell junction. At the adherens...
Adherens Junctions
Adherens Junctions are Dynamic
The endothelial cells...
Cadherins in Tissue Organization
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...
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...

