Cadherin-based cell-cell junctions play central roles in epithelial morphogenesis and homeostasis. Major advances in the cell biology of adherens junctions have come from understanding how they integrate adhesion with cytoskeletal activity and cell signaling. Recently, the realization that adherens junctions are mechanically-active structures, which generate and sense force, has provided an encompassing model to investigate the role that they play in epithelial tissues. In this talk, I will discuss some of our ongoing work to characterize mechanochemical signaling at AJ and how junctional tension-sensing participates in epithelial homeostasis, with a focus on apoptotic cell extrusion.