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Cell adhesion mediated by classical cadherins is foundational. Cadherins nucleate complexes of dozens of proteins connecting junctions to the cytoskeleton and signaling downstream. Many junctional proteins are well-studied in epithelia, but less is known about roles during mesenchymal migration. The nascent myotubes of the pupal Drosophila testis provide an excellent model for N-cadherin mediated mesenchymal migration. We combined a proximity proteomics dataset of adherens junction proteins in mammalian epithelial cells with genome-wide shRNA libraries knocking down Drosophila genes to begin to define the subset of junctional proteins important in mesenchymal migration. While N-cadherin is predominant, E-cadherin plays a supporting role. Surprisingly, several proteins with key roles in epithelial morphogenesis, including Afadin\u2019s homolog Canoe, ZO-1\u2019s homolog Polychaetoid, and Par3\u2019s homolog Bazooka play at most modest roles. Twenty-two genes with diverse cell biological roles had strong to moderate defects in testis morphogenesis. These will provide a community resource. We followed up two. The kinase Par-1 is important for migration and gap closure, with knockdown phenotypes paralleling those of myosin. The Rab GAP RN-tre does not have roles until after migration and works in parallel with N-cadherin during testis spiralization.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.05.22.727264","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,24]],"date-time":"2026-05-24T02:40:16Z","timestamp":1779590416000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A screen for adherens junction proteins regulating collective cell migration and testis morphogenesis reveals important roles for the Rab GAP RN-tre and the kinase Par-1"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Sarah E.","family":"Clark","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#3280, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Siobhan C.","family":"Morris","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#3280, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph B.","family":"Dordor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#3280, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lawrencia S.","family":"Amo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#3280, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Renick","family":"Wiltshire","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#3280, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Taino","family":"Encarnacion","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#3280, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6995-8159","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maik C.","family":"Bischoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Integrative Cell Biology and Physiology, Universit\u00e4t M\u00fcnster, M\u00fcnster 48149 Deutschland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1412-3987","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mark","family":"Peifer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#3280, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280, USA"},{"name":"Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026052716201759000_2026.05.22.727264v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1534\/g3.112.004093"},{"key":"2026052716201759000_2026.05.22.727264v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/bioinformatics\/btx180"},{"key":"2026052716201759000_2026.05.22.727264v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-021-25011-w"},{"key":"2026052716201759000_2026.05.22.727264v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/bies.202100124"},{"key":"2026052716201759000_2026.05.22.727264v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-0716-2887-4_8","article-title":"Dissecting Collective Cell Behavior in Migrating Testis Myotubes in Drosophila","volume":"2608","year":"2023","journal-title":"Methods Mol Biol"},{"key":"2026052716201759000_2026.05.22.727264v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-020-20362-2"},{"key":"2026052716201759000_2026.05.22.727264v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bischoff MC , Mayor R . 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