title: Assembly of focal adhesions: progress, paradigms, and portents.
abstract: Receptor-mediated assembly of an adhesion plaque occurs through an ordered series of steps, and intermediate assemblies can be identified. The recent demonstration of some of these partial reactions in permeabilized cells predicts that cell-free reconstitution of adhesion plaque assembly is an attainable goal. Newly discovered cryptic actin-binding sites in vinculin and ezrin, two proteins recruited to adhesion sites, suggest that actin-binding proteins are targets for the signals generated by adhesion receptors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. sue_craig@qmail.bs.jhu.edu
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells / Q000166:cytology; D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules