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Cadherins and catenins evidently partnered at the dawn of the animal kingdom to enable the first polarized epithelium, and perhaps animal evolution itself. New evidence from a primitive slime mold, however, suggests that α- and β-catenins may have engaged this function independently, long before cadherins arrived on the scene., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Adherens junctions have been traditionally viewed as building blocks of tissue architecture. The foundations for this view began to change with the discovery that a central component of AJs, beta-catenin, can also function as a transcriptional cofactor in Wnt signaling. In recent years, conventional views have similarly been shaken about the other two major AJ catenins, alpha-catenin and p120-catenin. Catenins have emerged as molecular sensors that integrate cell-cell junctions and cytoskeletal dynamics with signaling pathways that govern morphogenesis, tissue homeostasis, and even intercellular communication between different cell types within a tissue. These findings reveal novel aspects of AJ function in normal tissues and offer insights into how changes in AJs and their associated proteins and cytoskeletal dynamics impact wound-repair and cancer.