Cadherin-2 also known as neural cadherin (NCAD) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CDH2 gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

. CDH2 has also been designated as CD325 (cluster of differentiation

Cluster of differentiation

The cluster of differentiation is a protocol used for the identification and investigation of cell surface molecules present on white blood cells, providing targets for immunophenotyping of cells...

 325).

Function

Cadherin 2 a classical cadherin

Cadherin

Cadherins are a class of type-1 transmembrane proteins. They play important roles in cell adhesion, ensuring that cells within tissues are bound together. They are dependent on calcium ions to function, hence their name.The cadherin superfamily includes cadherins, protocadherins, desmogleins, and...

 from the cadherin superfamily. Cadherin 2 is a calcium dependent cell-cell adhesion glycoprotein

Glycoprotein

Glycoproteins are proteins that contain oligosaccharide chains covalently attached to polypeptide side-chains. The carbohydrate is attached to the protein in a cotranslational or posttranslational modification. This process is known as glycosylation. In proteins that have segments extending...

 comprising five extracellular cadherin repeats, a transmembrane region and a highly conserved cytoplasmic tail. The protein functions during gastrulation

Gastrulation

Gastrulation is a phase early in the embryonic development of most animals, during which the single-layered blastula is reorganized into a trilaminar structure known as the gastrula. These three germ layers are known as the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm.Gastrulation takes place after cleavage...

 and is required for establishment of left-right asymmetry. At certain central nervous system synapse

Chemical synapse

Chemical synapses are specialized junctions through which neurons signal to each other and to non-neuronal cells such as those in muscles or glands. Chemical synapses allow neurons to form circuits within the central nervous system. They are crucial to the biological computations that underlie...

s, presynaptic to postsynaptic adhesion

Cell adhesion

Cellular adhesion is the binding of a cell to a surface, extracellular matrix or another cell using cell adhesion molecules such as selectins, integrins, and cadherins. Correct cellular adhesion is essential in maintaining multicellular structure...

 is mediated at least in part by this gene product.

Role in cancer metastasis

N-Cadherin is commonly found in cancer cells and provides a mechanism for transendothelial migration. when a cancer cell adheres to the endothelial cells of a blood vessel it up-regulates the src kinase

Src (gene)

Proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the SRC gene.Src is a proto-oncogene encoding a tyrosine kinase originally discovered by J. Michael Bishop and Harold E. Varmus, for which they won the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. It belongs to a...

 pathway, which phosphorylates beta-catenin

Beta-catenin

Beta-catenin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CTNNB1 gene. In Drosophila, the homologous protein is called armadillo...

s attached to both N-cadherin (this protein) and E-cadherins

CDH1 (gene)

Cadherin-1 also known as CAM 120/80 or epithelial cadherin or uvomorulin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CDH1 gene. CDH1 has also been designated as CD324 . It is a tumor suppressor gene.- Function :Cadherin-1 is a classical member of the cadherin superfamily...

. This causes the intercellular connection between two adjacent endothelial cells to fail and allows the cancer cell to slip through.

Interactions

CDH2 has been shown to interact

Protein-protein interaction

Protein–protein interactions occur when two or more proteins bind together, often to carry out their biological function. Many of the most important molecular processes in the cell such as DNA replication are carried out by large molecular machines that are built from a large number of protein...

 with Beta-catenin

Beta-catenin

Beta-catenin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CTNNB1 gene. In Drosophila, the homologous protein is called armadillo...

, Plakoglobin

Plakoglobin

Junction plakoglobin, also known as gamma-catenin or JUP, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the JUP gene.- Function :...

, Catenin (cadherin-associated protein), alpha 1, CTNND1

CTNND1

Catenin delta-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CTNND1 gene.-Interactions:CTNND1 has been shown to interact with Beta-catenin, FYN, Collagen, type XVII, alpha 1, PTPN6, YES1, PTPRJ, VE-cadherin, MUC1, CDH1, CDH2, PTPRM, Cortactin, Nephrin, ZBTB33 and PSEN1.-Further reading:...

, LRRC7

LRRC7

Leucine rich repeat containing 7 also known as LRRC7, Densin-180, or LAP1 is a protein which in humans is encoded by the LRRC7 gene.- Structure :...

, CDH11

CDH11

Cadherin-11 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CDH11 gene.-Further reading:...

, and type IIb RPTPs including PTPRM

PTPRM

Receptor-type tyrosine-protein phosphatase mu is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PTPRM gene.- Function :The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the protein tyrosine phosphatase family. Protein tyrosine phosphatases are protein enzymes that remove phosphate moieties from tyrosine...

.

External links