A relationship between actin accumulation at the molecular level, adhesion strengthening at the cellular level, and epithelial cohesion at the tissue level. Actin accumulation at the adherens junction is a balance of actin polymerization, stabilization, and depolymerization. Actin polymerization at the adherens junction requires the coupling of actin nucleation by the arp2/3 complex, actin elongation by EVL, and actin assembly by α-actinin-4. Thus, junction actin assembly is not simply a product of actin polymerization but resulted from the coordinated spatial and temporal coupling between an actin assembly process and a nucleation/polymerization reaction at the adherens junction. After actin is assembled, filament barbed ends are capped by CD2AP. Stabilization of actin by CD2AP contributes to strengthening and maturation of adherens junctions, leading to suppression of cell motility and increase in resilience of epithelial sheet to mechanical stress. Orange boxes represent this work. Red boxes represent work using the same biochemical reconstitution system.