The identification of nuclear myosin I (NMI) has raised the possibility that myosin might have had an early functional role in the eukaryotic nucleus. To investigate this possibility, we examined the molecular evolution of the vertebrate myosin-I proteins. We found that myosin I has undergone at least five duplication events in the common ancestor of the vertebrates (vertebrate-specific duplica...

New work shows that the motor protein myosin VI, acting through vinculin, plays a key role in the maturation of cadherin-based adherens junctions in epithelial cells.