Assembly of focal adhesions: progress, paradigms, and portents

Abstract

Receptor-mediated assembly of an adhesion plaque occurs through an ordered series of steps, and intermediate assemblies can be identified. The recent demonstration of some of these partial reactions in permeabilized cells predicts that cell-free reconstitution of adhesion plaque assembly is an attainable goal. Newly discovered cryptic actin-binding sites in vinculin and ezrin, two proteins recruited to adhesion sites, suggest that actin-binding proteins are targets for the signals generated by adhesion receptors.