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 morphogenesis. 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. The relatively short carboxy terminal, intracellular domain interacts with a variety of cytoplasmic proteins, including catenin b, to regulate cadherin function. R-cadherin (for retinal-cadherin, also designated cadherin-4), which was first identified in the retina of chicken, has been shown to be involved in the development of striated muscle and potentially epithelia in addition to its involvement in retinal development.
Subcellular location: Cell membrane
Synonyms: CADH4_HUMAN, Cadherin 4, Cadherin4, Cadherin-4, CDH 4, CDH-4, R CAD, R-CAD, R-cadherin, Retinal Cadherin.
Target Information: This gene is a classical cadherin from the cadherin superfamily. The encoded protein is a calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion glycoprotein comprised of five extracellular cadherin repeats, a transmembrane region and a highly conserved cytoplasmic tail. Based on studies in chicken and mouse, this cadherin is thought to play an important role during brain segmentation and neuronal outgrowth. In addition, a role in kidney and muscle development is indicated. Of particular interest are studies showing stable cis-heterodimers of cadherins 2 and 4 in cotransfected cell lines. Previously thought to interact in an exclusively homophilic manner, this is the first evidence of cadherin heterodimerization. Three transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Nov 2011]