The cadherin/catenin complex: connections to multiple cellular processes involved in cell adhesion, proliferation and morphogenesis

Cadherins comprise a large family of membrane glycoproteins that mediate Ca⁺-dependent cell adhesion during development and in the adult. Although the extracellular domain controls homotypic recognition and binding between cadherins on adjacent cells, proteins that bind to the cytoplasmic domain (catenins) also regulate cell adhesivity. Assembly of the cadherin/catenin complex is temporally and spatially regulated during transport to the cell surface, and in polarized epithelial cells, different cadherin/catenin and catenin complexes have specialized sub-cellular distributions. Changes in the levels of expression, dynamics of assembly and phosphorylation of catenins directly affect cadherin function. Taken together, catenins are emerging as important linkers in cellular processes involved in adhesion, proliferation and morphogenesis.