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Isolation of placental cadherin cDNA: identification of a novel gene family of cell‐cell adhesion molecules.
Author(s) -
Nose A.,
Nagafuchi A.,
Takeichi M.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02698.x
Subject(s) - biology , cell adhesion molecule , cadherin , complementary dna , cell adhesion , isolation (microbiology) , genetics , gene , identification (biology) , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , bioinformatics , botany
Ca2+‐dependent cell–cell adhesion molecules, termed cadherins, are classified into subclasses with different tissue distributions and distinct cell–cell binding specificities. We report the cloning of cDNA encoding a cadherin present in the placenta which is called P‐cadherin. The deduced sequence encodes a polypeptide of 822 amino acids with the characteristic features of integral membrane proteins. A computer search of the amino acid sequence homology of P‐cadherin against itself showed that this molecule contains internal repeats in the extracellular domain. Comparison of the primary structure of P‐cadherin with that of the epithelial cadherin (E‐cadherin) showed that there is 58% homology in their amino acid sequences. These results provide evidence for our hypothesis that cadherins constitute a gene family.