Biochemical and Structural Definition of the l-Afadin- and Actin-binding Sites of α-Catenin

An Autoinhibited Structure of α-Catenin and Its Implications for Vinculin Recruitment to Adherens Junctions

“…Interestingly, the arrangement of the M II and M III bundles within ␣EcatNM is markedly different from previously determined M II-III fragment structures in the absence of the N domain and the M I region (Fig. 2, A-D) (25,28), but surprisingly similar to the arrangement of D3-D4 domains in vinculin (Fig. 2E) (56,57).…”

Anchoring Junctions As Drug Targets: Role in Contraceptive Development

“…Initial studies demonstrated that cross-talk between these two multiprotein complexes was mediated by interactions between: 1) l-afadin and ␣-catenin (Pokutta et al, 2002), 2) ponsin [binds to afadin and vinculin (Mandai et al, 1999)] and vinculin [binds to F-actin and ␣-catenin (Jockusch and Isenberg, 1981;Menkel et al, 1994;Weiss et al, 1998)], and/or 3) afadin dilute domain-interacting protein [ADIP (Asada et al, 2003)] and ␣-actinin [binds to ␣-catenin (Knudsen et al, 1995)]. Note that ADIP localization was not only restricted to the adherens junction, where it was proposed to function in the organization of the actin cytoskeleton (Asada et al, 2003).…”

Dynamics between actin and the VE-cadherin/catenin complex

“…Further proteins were shown to bind α-catenin as well. This includes α-actinin, 55 vinculin, 56 ZO-1, 57 afadin (AF6), 58 ajuba, 59 and formins. 60 Most of these proteins are also actin-binding proteins and the large diversity of proteins indicates a complicated, and possibly stimulus-specific, differential regulation of this interaction.…”