Cytoskeletal and adhesion proteins as tumor suppressors.

In the past year, significant progress has been made in the attempt to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying signaling that is induced by cell-cell and cell-extracellular-matrix adhesion and that involves the cytoskeleton. In particular, molecules of the cytoplasmic plaques of cell-cell junctions have been shown to complex with transcription factors and to translocate into the nucleus. In addition, such junctional plaque proteins have been shown to act as effective suppressors of tumorigenesis.