Description
This gene is a type II classical cadherin from the cadherin superfamily. The encoded membrane protein is a calcium dependent cell-cell adhesion glycoprotein comprised of five extracellular cadherin repeats, a transmembrane region and a highly conserved cytoplasmic tail. Type II (atypical) cadherins are defined based on their lack of a HAV cell adhesion recognition sequence specific to type I cadherins. Cadherins mediate cell-cell binding in a homophilic manner, contributing to the sorting of heterogeneous cell types and the maintenance of orderly structures. Alternative splicing in the 5 UTR of this gene yields variant transcripts encoding the same protein