Cover image

Cover Structural insight into the interaction between -catenin and the scaffolding protein Axin. Shown here is a crystal structure of the armadillo repeat region of human -catenin (yellow) in complex with the -catenin binding domain of Xenopus Axin (XAxin-CBD; red). The XAxin-CBD helix binds the groove formed by the third and fourth armadillo repeats of -catenin and thereby prevents simultaneous binding by other -catenin partners. Misexpression of components of this pathway in Xenopus embryos leads to duplication of the embryonic axis (background). (For details, see Xing et al., p. 2753.)