Vinculin is a eukaryotic protein that appears to be involved in the attachment of actin-based microfilaments tothe plasma membrane [<cite idref="PUB00000977"/>]. It also interacts with other structural proteins, such as talin [<cite idref="PUB00003062"/>]and alpha-actinin. The protein is located on the cytoplasmic side of focal contacts or adhesion plaques. Vinculinis a large protein (~1000 residues) that contains an acidic N-terminal domain, separated from a smaller, basicC-terminal domain by a 50-residue proline-rich region [<cite idref="PUB00004758"/>]. The central part of the N-terminal domainconsists of a variable number of repeats of a 110-residue domain, one of which is lacking in nematode vinculin[<cite idref="PUB00004711"/>]. Vinculin, conserved site