Adherens junctions (AJ; also referred to as zonula adherens) are required for both the establishment and maintenance of epithelial layers (1). In addition, these junctions have been identified in several other cell types including cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts (1). AJ subserve several important functions including: mediating intercellular adhesion, sensing the presence of neighboring cells, and anchoring the actin cytoskeleton (1,10). AJ are multiprotein complexes that are assembled around cell adhesion molecules called cadherins. Cadherins are a multifunctional family of Ca2+-dependent, transmembrane glycoproteins which promote cell-cell adhesion (6). The cadherin extracellular domain mediates homophilic interactions between like cadherin molecules on neighboring cells, while the intracellular domain interacts with several cytoplasmic proteins which include: a-catenin, b-catenin, g-catenin (plakoglobin), and the tyrosine kinase substrate p120cas (2,4,7,9,13,16). Cadherin-catenin interactions are required for complete cadherin activity and regulate the interaction between cadherins and the actin-based cytoskeleton (2,4,6,9,13,17). In fact, deletion of the cadherin cytoplasmic domain produces an adhesion-defective molecule that is unable to interact with the cytoskeleton (6,8).