Division of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Protoplasma. 2013 Aug;250(4):817-29. doi: 10.1007/s00709-012-0475-6. Epub 2012 Dec 29.
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.
细胞黏附连接通常源于黏附受体、细胞信号通路和细胞骨架的协同整合。这在经典钙黏蛋白黏附受体介导的细胞-细胞相互作用中得到了例证。这些连接点是钙黏蛋白黏附系统与动态肌动球蛋白细胞骨架功能偶联的部位，这一过程需要与许多肌动蛋白调节剂发生物理相互作用，并受到细胞信号通路的调节。这种整合意味着可能有一些分子在黏附、信号和细胞骨架之间起着界面作用。候选分子之一是皮质支架蛋白 vinculin，它是细胞-细胞和细胞-基质黏附的组成部分。尽管其对整联蛋白黏附的贡献已得到广泛研究，但关于 vinculin 如何促进细胞-细胞黏附的了解较少。最近的一个重大进展是认识到钙黏蛋白黏附是活跃的机械结构，其中钙黏蛋白作为机械转导途径的一部分，通过该途径，连接点感知并引发细胞对机械刺激的反应。vinculin 已成为钙黏蛋白机械转导中的一个重要组成部分，这一观点阐明了其在细胞-细胞相互作用中的作用。我们现在回顾其作为皮质支架的作用及其在钙黏蛋白机械转导中的作用。
