NCAM Is at the Heart of Reciprocal Regulation of E-Cadherin- and Integrin-Mediated Adhesions via Signaling Modulation

New work by Lehembre et al. in The EMBO Journal reveals that the cell-adhesion molecule, NCAM, is at the heart of crosstalk between E-cadherin loss and reciprocal focal adhesion assembly during the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). NCAM upregulation induces the formation of novel signaling complexes that correlate with NCAM-dependent focal adhesion assembly, migration, and cancer cell invasion.