Coupling membrane protrusion and cell adhesion

The ability of cells to extend cell membranes is central to numerous biological processes, including cell migration, cadherin-mediated junction formation and phagocytosis. Much attention has been focused on understanding the signals that trigger membrane protrusion and the architecture of the resulting extension. Similarly, cell adhesion has been extensively studied, yielding a wealth of information about the proteins involved and how they signal to the cytoplasm. Although we have learned much about membrane protrusion and cell adhesion, we know less about how these two processes are coupled. Traditionally it has been thought that they are linked by the signaling pathways they employ - for example, those involving Rho family GTPases. However, there are also physical links between the cellular machineries that mediate cell adhesion and membrane protrusion, such as vinculin.