Cadherin-Mediated Cell-Cell Adhesion and the Microtubule Network

Abstract

Classical cadherin adhesion molecules are not only essential for the formation of cell-cell junctions but also act as adhesion-activated signaling receptors involved in a diverse range of physiological processes. Cadherins through their association with catenin proteins interact with the actin cytoskeleton and cadherin-mediated signaling pathways, acting in part through Rho GTPases, regulate cadherin anchoring to the actin cytoskeleton. The microtubule (MT) network recently emerged as having a role in cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion. Indeed, MT have been shown to serve as tracks for directed cadherin-containing vesicles movement toward the cell periphery and for the turnover of the junction. In addition, cadherin-based adhesion regulates MT dynamics, which become stabilized. Finally recent data have proposed that association of proteins of the catenin family to MT might be important for linking the MT ends to the F-actin-rich cortex and thus orienting mitotic spindles and the placement of the cytokinetic furrow during cell division.