Epithelial cells in tissues use their actin cytoskeletons to stick together, whereas unattached cells make active plasma membrane protrusions to migrate. In this issue, Wood et al. (2017. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201612006) show that the junction component α-catenin is critical in freely moving cells to promote adhesion and migration.
© 2017 Machesky and Braga.