Figure 1.

Schematic representation of the cadherin-11 adhesive junction. In the intercellular space, cadherin-11 extracellular domains interact with cadherin-11 extracellular domains of adjacent cells to mediate cell adhesion. Lateral clustering of cadherin molecules is required to form stable cell-to-cell contacts. The intracellular catenins bind to the cytoplasmic tail of cadherin-11. p120 catenin (p120^ctn) binds the cadherin tail at the juxtamembrane domain, whereas β-catenin binds the distal domain, the β-catenin binding sequence. α-Catenin associates with β-catenin and is directly linked to the actin cytoskeleton.