{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T17:56:48Z","timestamp":1790877408218,"version":"4.1.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"group-title":"Cell Biology","reference-count":45,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790553600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"award":["R35 GM131747"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R35 GM131747"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04q48ey07","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["R01 HL127711"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01 HL127711"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/012pb6c26","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>In mechanically active tissues, cell-cell adhesions must withstand high and dynamic loads to maintain tissue integrity. The ability to detect and withstand load centers on the mechanosensitive adherens junction (AJ), which couples the actin networks of adjacent cells. The mechanosensor \u03b1E-catenin responds to force by opening its Middle (M) region, revealing cryptic binding sites for adaptor proteins such as afadin and vinculin. Here we show that the afadin coiled-coil (CC) region binds the open \u03b1E-catenin M-region with modest affinity and fast exchange, unlike the high-affinity, long-lived binding of vinculin, suggesting distinct roles. In cardiomyocytes, the afadin CC is necessary and sufficient for afadin localization at high-load AJs, where it exhibits the dynamic, hexanediol-sensitive properties of a biomolecular condensate. By contrast, the afadin CC is dispensable for recruitment at low-load epithelial AJs, suggesting that junctional load determines the basis of afadin recruitment. We propose that force-gated opening of \u03b1E-catenin seeds afadin condensate formation, a mechanism that drives reorganization of high-load AJs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.09.27.754825","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T14:50:46Z","timestamp":1790607046000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Mechanical opening of the \u03b1E-catenin M-region gates afadin condensation in cardiomyocytes"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Sabine","family":"Pokutta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Departments of Structural Biology and Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yerin","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Korina I.","family":"Karpov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jonathon A.","family":"Heier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5583-6150","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"William I.","family":"Weis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departments of Structural Biology and Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3997-7057","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adam V.","family":"Kwiatkowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026100109550450000_2026.09.27.754825v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/S41586-024-07487-W"},{"key":"2026100109550450000_2026.09.27.754825v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-022-28779-7"},{"key":"2026100109550450000_2026.09.27.754825v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1254211"},{"key":"2026100109550450000_2026.09.27.754825v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2018.02.003"},{"key":"2026100109550450000_2026.09.27.754825v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1203906109"},{"key":"2026100109550450000_2026.09.27.754825v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbc.2021.100260"},{"key":"2026100109550450000_2026.09.27.754825v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ehler, E. , T. 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A key role of Canoe\u2019s intrinsically disordered region in linking cell junctions to the cytoskeleton. 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