As we probed more deeply into the underlying mechanisms governing E-cadherin promoter activity, we were intrigued by the close proximity of the LEF-1/β-catenin binding site to a site known to bind the Snail/Slug family of zinc finger transcriptional repressor proteins [12,13,14,15]. Both activity of Snail and down-regulation of E-cadherin play pivotal roles in epithelial to mesenchymal transitions (EMTs), typified by the transformation of polarized, adhering epithelial cells into motile mesenchymal cells [16,17]. Bud formation differs from an EMT in that E-cadherin activity needs to be down-regulated but not prevented, so that adhesive junctions are remodeled rather than quantitatively impaired. Supportive of an underlying ability to fine-tune cadherin expression at the transcriptional level, Snail seems to have an additive effect with LEF-1/β-catenin in negatively modulating E-cadherin promoter activity [4].