Sidekick dynamically rebalances contractile and protrusive forces to control tissue morphogenesis

Abstract

Malin et al. show that the homophilic adhesion molecule Sidekick interacts alternately with the WAVE regulatory complex and with Polychaetoid/Zonula occludence-1 at tricellular adherens junctions to dynamically rebalance opposing protrusive and contractile forces that repeatedly expand and contract cell contacts to maintain cell–cell contacts and ensure proper epithelial remodeling.