ARF1 at the crossroads of podosome construction and function.

Podosomes are actin-based proteolytic microdomains of the plasma membrane found in cells that travel across tissues. In this issue, Rafiq et al. (2017. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201605104) reveal that the small guanosine triphosphatase ARF1, a well-known orchestrator of membrane traffic at the Golgi, regulates podosome formation, maintenance, and function.