Vinculin belongs to the vinculin/alpha-catenin family. It is an actin filament (F-actin)-binding protein which involved in cell-matrix adhesion and cell-cell adhesion. Vinculin regulates cell-surface E-cadherin expression and potentiates mechanosensing by the E-cadherin complex. It may also play important roles in cell morphology and locomotion. Vinculin is a 117-kDa,1,066-amino-acid protein which is ubiquitously expressed. Its splice variant,metavinculin (124 kDa),is muscle-specific.