SUMMARY Adherens junctions allow cell contact to inhibit epithelial migration. But a long-standing puzzle is how locomotion is downregulated when E-cadherin adhesions form at surfaces perpendicular, but not those parallel, to the direction of migration. We now show that this arises from coupling between E-cadherin adhesions and the retrograde cortical flows of leader cells in migrating epithelia. At interfaces perpendicular to the direction of motion, such flows are antiparallel, which generates a tensile signal that induces the actin-binding domain of α-catenin to promote lateral growth of nascent adhesions and inhibit the lamellipodial activity necessary for migration. At interfaces parallel to the direction of motion, by contrast, cortical flows are aligned and no such mechanical inhibition takes place. Therefore, α-catenin mechanosensitivity in the clutch between E-cadherin and cortical F-actin allows cells to interpret the direction of motion via cortical flows and trigger the first signal for contact to inhibit locomotion.

An E-cadherin-actin clutch translates the mechanical force of cortical flow for cell-cell contact to inhibit epithelial cell locomotion