Beta-catenin: a common target for the regulation of cell adhesion by Wnt-1 and Src signaling pathways.

Beta-catenin is a cytosolic protein originally identified through its association with the cadherin class of cell-adhesion proteins. However, recent studies have demonstrated that there are cadherin-independent pools of beta-catenin and that beta-catenin binds at least one other protein, the product of the tumor-suppressor gene APC. Furthermore, beta-catenin is the target of two signal transduction pathways mediated by the proto-oncogenes src and wnt-1. This raises the possibility that beta-catenin plays a pivotal role in balancing cellular responses to both adhesive and proliferative signals.