Talin requires beta-integrin, but not vinculin, for its assembly into focal adhesion-like structures in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

In cultured cells, the 230-kDa protein talin is found at discrete plasma membrane foci known as focal adhesions, sites that anchor the intracellular actin cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix. The regulated assembly of focal adhesions influences the direction of cell migrations or the reorientation of cell shapes. Biochemical studies of talin have shown that it binds to the proteins integrin, vinculin, and actin in vitro. To understand the function of talin in vivo and to correlate its in vitro and in vivo biochemical properties, various genetic approaches have been adopted. With the intention of using genetics in the study of talin, we identified a homologue to mouse talin in a genetic model system, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans talin is 39% identical and 59% similar to mouse talin. In wild-type adult C. elegans, talin colocalizes with integrin, vinculin, and alpha-actinin in the focal adhesion-like structures found in the body-wall muscle. By examining the organization of talin in two different C. elegans mutant strains that do not make either beta-integrin or vinculin, we were able to determine that talin does not require vinculin for its initial organization at the membrane, but that it depends critically on the presence of integrin for its initial assembly at membrane foci.