Synonyms
CMD1W; CMH15; Metavinculin; MVCL; VCL
Historical Background
In 1979, Benjamin Geiger isolated a 130 kD protein from chicken gizzard that localized to the ventral surface of cells and to areas of cell-cell contact (Geiger 1979). About the same time, Keith Burridge and colleagues isolated a 130 kD, also from chicken gizzard (Burridge and Feramisco 1980). Burridge observed fluorescently labeled versions of this protein extensively co-localized with fibronectin and actin, suggesting a possible role in the organization of actin filaments at membrane attachment sites. Based on this information, the novel protein was named vinculin from the Latin word vinculum, which means a “bond” or “link.”
After its identification, many early studies reinforced the initial idea that vinculin links actin to attachment sites. Key among these was the identification of vinculin as a direct binding partner for actin and for talin – a new protein found to interacted with the integrins (Burridge and...
References
Bakolitsa C, et al. Crystal structure of the vinculin tail suggests a pathway for activation. Cell. 1999;99(6):603–13.
Bakolitsa C, et al. Structural basis for vinculin activation at sites of cell adhesion. Nature. 2004;430(6999):583–6.
Barstead RJ, Waterston RH. Vinculin is essential for muscle function in the nematode. J Cell Biol. 1991;114(4):715–24.
Bays JL, et al. Vinculin phosphorylation differentially regulates mechanotransduction at cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesions. J Cell Biol. 2014;205(2):251–63.
Birukova AA, et al. Dual role of vinculin in barrier-disruptive and barrier-enhancing endothelial cell responses. Cell Signal. 2016;28(6):541–51.
Borgon RA, et al. Crystal structure of human vinculin. Structure (Camb). 2004;12(7):1189–97.
Burridge K, Feramisco JR. Microinjection and localization of a 130 K protein in living fibroblasts: a relationship to actin and fibronectin. Cell. 1980;19(3):587–95.
Burridge K, Mangeat P. An interaction between vinculin and talin. Nature. 1984;308(5961):744–6.
Coutu MD, Craig SW. cDNA-derived sequence of chicken embryo vinculin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988;85(22):8535–9.
DeMali KA, Sun X, Bui GA. Force transmission at cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesions. Biochemistry. 2014;53(49):7706–17.
Geiger B. A 130 K protein from chicken gizzard: its localization at the termini of microfilament bundles in cultured chicken cells. Cell. 1979;18(1):193–205.
Horwitz A, et al. Interaction of plasma membrane fibronectin receptor with talin – a transmembrane linkage. Nature. 1986;320(6062):531–3.
Kaushik G, et al. Vinculin network-mediated cytoskeletal remodeling regulates contractile function in the aging heart. Sci Transl Med. 2015;7(292):292ra99.
Peng X, et al. New insights into vinculin function and regulation. Int Rev Cell Mol Biol. 2011;287:191–231.
Price GJ, et al. Isolation and characterization of a vinculin cDNA from chick-embryo fibroblasts. Biochem J. 1987;245(2):595–603.
Rodriguez Fernandez JL, et al. Overexpression of vinculin suppresses cell motility in BALB/c 3 T3 cells. Cell Motil Cytoskeleton. 1992;22(2):127–34.
Sefton BM, et al. Vinculin: a cytoskeletal target of the transforming protein of Rous sarcoma virus. Cell. 1981;24(1):165–74.
Varnum-Finney B, Reichardt LF. Vinculin-deficient PC12 cell lines extend unstable lamellipodia and filopodia and have a reduced rate of neurite outgrowth. J Cell Biol. 1994;127(4):1071–84.
Vasile VC, et al. A missense mutation in a ubiquitously expressed protein, vinculin, confers susceptibility to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2006;345(3):998–1003.
Xu W, Baribault H, Adamson ED. Vinculin knockout results in heart and brain defects during embryonic development. Development. 1998;125(2):327–37.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Heidema, C., DeMali, K.A. (2016). Vinculin (VCL). In: Choi, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6438-9_101953-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6438-9_101953-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6438-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6438-9
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences