Regulation of Rho GTPases by p120-catenin

Three recent reports indicate that p120-catenin can modulate the activities of RhoA, Rac and Cdc42, suggesting an elegant and previously unexpected mechanism for regulating the balance between adhesive and motile cellular phenotypes. The observations in these reports provide important new clues toward p120's mechanism of action and provide a potential explanation for the metastatic phenotype exhibited in carcinoma cells that have lost E cadherin expression.