Also known as plakoglobin, ?-catenin is a member of the Armadillo family of signaling molecules, which includes ?-catenin and the?Drosophila?protein armadillo . This family of proteins is involved in Wnt signaling, which is important in embryonic development and in tumorigenesis . Although the two vertebrate proteins ?- and ?-catenin display sequence homology, ?-catenin likely plays a role distinct from that of ?-catenin . ?-catenin localizes to desmosomes and adherens junctions, both sites of intercellular adhesion, and interacts with the cytoplasmic domains of classical and desmosomal cadherins. Interaction of ?- or ?-catenin with ?-catenin, desmoplakin and other junction proteins provides a link between intercellular junctions and the actin and intermediate filament cytoskeleton. Maintenance and/or modification of this link is vital for control of cell adhesion and migration . ?-catenin is modified by phosphorylation, affecting both adhesion and ?-catenin dependent transcription , and by and O-glycosylation, affecting adhesion . Recent evidence suggests that ?-catenin regulates desmosomal adhesion in response to growth factor stimulation .