Classic Cadherins represent a family of calcium-dependent homophilic cell-cell adhesion molecules. They confer strong adhesiveness to animal cells when they are anchored to the actin cytoskeleton via their cytoplasmic binding partners, catenins. The cadherin/catenin adhesion system plays key roles in the morphogenesis and function of the vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems. Furthermore, this system is involved in synaptic plasticity. Recent studies on the role of individual cadherin subtypes at synapses indicate that individual cadherin subtypes play their own unique role to regulate synaptic activities. Type II (atypical) cadherins are defined based on their lack of an HAV cell adhesion recognition sequence specific to type I cadherins. It has been observed that cells containing a specific cadherin subtype tend to cluster together to the exclusion of other types, both in cell culture and during development. Cadherin-12 also known as CDH12, is a type II classical cadherin from the cadherin superfamily of integral membrane proteins that mediate calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion. Cadherin-12 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.
