title: Vinculin, cadherin mechanotransduction and homeostasis of cell-cell junctions.
abstract: Cell adhesion junctions characteristically arise from the cooperative integration of adhesion receptors, cell signalling pathways and the cytoskeleton. This is exemplified by cell-cell interactions mediated by classical cadherin adhesion receptors. These junctions are sites where cadherin adhesion systems functionally couple to the dynamic actin cytoskeleton, a process that entails physical interactions with many actin regulators and regulation by cell signalling pathways. Such integration implies a potential role for molecules that may stand at the interface between adhesion, signalling and the cytoskeleton. One such candidate is the cortical scaffolding protein, vinculin, which is a component of both cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesions. While its contribution to integrin-based adhesions has been extensively studied, less is known about how vinculin contributes to cell-cell adhesions. A major recent advance has come with the realisation that cadherin adhesions are active mechanical structures, where cadherin serves as part of a mechanotransduction pathway by which junctions sense and elicit cellular responses to mechanical stimuli. Vinculin has emerged as an important element in cadherin mechanotransduction, a perspective that illuminates its role in cell-cell interactions. We now review its role as a cortical scaffold and its role in cadherin mechanotransduction.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Joanne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Leerberg
authors.forename: Alpha S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Yap
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016596:Vinculin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D016596:Vinculin