Description
Product Characteristics:
The cadherins are a family of Ca++-dependent adhesion molecules that function to mediate cell-cell binding critical to the maintenance of tissue structure and morpho-genesis (1-4). Cadherins each contain a large extracellular domain at the amino terminus, which is characterized by a series of five homologous repeats, the most distal of which is thought to be responsible for binding specificity (5,6). The relatively short carboxy terminal, intracellular domain interacts with a variety of cytoplasmic proteins, including catenin b, to regulate cadherin function (7). BR-cadherin (for brain-cadherin, also designated cadherin-12 or N-cadherin 2) is expressed specifically in neurons in the central nervous system and is thought to be involved in neuronal development (8).
Subcellular location: Cell membrane
Synonyms: Br cadherin, BR-cadherin, Brain cadherin, CAD12_HUMAN, cadherin 12 N cadherin 2, Cadherin 12, Cadherin 12 precursor, Cadherin 12 type 2 N cadherin 2, Cadherin 12 type 2, Cadherin neural type 2, Cadherin-12, CDH12, CDHB, FLJ34857, N cadherin 2, N-cadherin 2, Neural type cadherin 2, Neuronal cadherin 2.
Target Information: This gene encodes a type II classical cadherin from the cadherin superfamily of integral membrane proteins that mediate calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion. Mature cadherin proteins are composed of a large N-terminal extracellular domain, a single membrane-spanning domain, and a small, highly conserved C-terminal cytoplasmic domain. Type II (atypical) cadherins are defined based on their lack of a HAV cell adhesion recognition sequence specific to type I cadherins. This particular cadherin appears to be expressed specifically in the brain and its temporal pattern of expression would be consistent with a role during a critical period of neuronal development, perhaps specifically during synaptogenesis. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]