Regulation of cadherin-mediated adhesion in morphogenesis.

Cadherin cell-adhesion proteins mediate many facets of tissue morphogenesis. The dynamic regulation of cadherins in response to various extracellular signals controls cell sorting, cell rearrangements and cell movements. Cadherins are regulated at the cell surface by an inside-out signalling mechanism that is analogous to the integrins in platelets and leukocytes. Signal-transduction pathways impinge on the catenins (cytoplasmic cadherin-associated proteins), which transduce changes across the membrane to alter the state of the cadherin adhesive bond.