Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Cell Biology logoLink to The Journal of Cell Biology
. 1988 Mar 1;106(3):873–881. doi: 10.1083/jcb.106.3.873

Cloning and expression of cDNA encoding a neural calcium-dependent cell adhesion molecule: its identity in the cadherin gene family

PMCID: PMC2115086  PMID: 2831236

Abstract

The neural cadherin (N-cadherin) is a Ca2+-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecule detected in neural tissues as well as in non-neural tissues. We report here the nucleotide sequence of the chicken N-cadherin cDNA and the deduced amino acid sequence. The sequence data suggest that N- cadherin has one transmembrane domain which divides the molecule into an extracellular and a cytoplasmic domain; the extracellular domain contains internal repeats of characteristic sequences. When the N- cadherin cDNA connected with virus promoters was transfected into L cells which have no endogenous N-cadherin, the transformants acquired the N-cadherin-mediated aggregating property, indicating that the cloned cDNA contained all information necessary for the cell-cell binding action of this molecule. We then compared the primary structure of N-cadherin with that of other molecules defined as cadherin subclasses. The results showed that these molecules contain common amino acid sequences throughout their entire length, which confirms our hypothesis that cadherins make a gene family.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.9 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Burdick M. L. Cell sorting out according to species in aggregates containing mouse and chick embryonic limb mesoblast cells. J Exp Zool. 1970 Nov;175(3):357–367. doi: 10.1002/jez.1401750309. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burdick M. L., Steinberg M. S. Embryonic cell adhesiveness: do species differences exist among warm-blooded vertebrates? Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1969 Aug;63(4):1169–1173. doi: 10.1073/pnas.63.4.1169. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cunningham B. A., Leutzinger Y., Gallin W. J., Sorkin B. C., Edelman G. M. Linear organization of the liver cell adhesion molecule L-CAM. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Sep;81(18):5787–5791. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.18.5787. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Duband J. L., Dufour S., Hatta K., Takeichi M., Edelman G. M., Thiery J. P. Adhesion molecules during somitogenesis in the avian embryo. J Cell Biol. 1987 May;104(5):1361–1374. doi: 10.1083/jcb.104.5.1361. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gallin W. J., Sorkin B. C., Edelman G. M., Cunningham B. A. Sequence analysis of a cDNA clone encoding the liver cell adhesion molecule, L-CAM. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 May;84(9):2808–2812. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.9.2808. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hatta K., Okada T. S., Takeichi M. A monoclonal antibody disrupting calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion of brain tissues: possible role of its target antigen in animal pattern formation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 May;82(9):2789–2793. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.9.2789. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hatta K., Takagi S., Fujisawa H., Takeichi M. Spatial and temporal expression pattern of N-cadherin cell adhesion molecules correlated with morphogenetic processes of chicken embryos. Dev Biol. 1987 Mar;120(1):215–227. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(87)90119-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hatta K., Takeichi M. Expression of N-cadherin adhesion molecules associated with early morphogenetic events in chick development. Nature. 1986 Apr 3;320(6061):447–449. doi: 10.1038/320447a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hirano S., Nose A., Hatta K., Kawakami A., Takeichi M. Calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecules (cadherins): subclass specificities and possible involvement of actin bundles. J Cell Biol. 1987 Dec;105(6 Pt 1):2501–2510. doi: 10.1083/jcb.105.6.2501. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kanehisa M. I., Goad W. B. Pattern recognition in nucleic acid sequences. II. An efficient method for finding locally stable secondary structures. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Jan 11;10(1):265–278. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.1.265. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kyte J., Doolittle R. F. A simple method for displaying the hydropathic character of a protein. J Mol Biol. 1982 May 5;157(1):105–132. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(82)90515-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Nose A., Takeichi M. A novel cadherin cell adhesion molecule: its expression patterns associated with implantation and organogenesis of mouse embryos. J Cell Biol. 1986 Dec;103(6 Pt 2):2649–2658. doi: 10.1083/jcb.103.6.2649. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Shirayoshi Y., Hatta K., Hosoda M., Tsunasawa S., Sakiyama F., Takeichi M. Cadherin cell adhesion molecules with distinct binding specificities share a common structure. EMBO J. 1986 Oct;5(10):2485–2488. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04525.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Takeichi M., Atsumi T., Yoshida C., Uno K., Okada T. S. Selective adhesion of embryonal carcinoma cells and differentiated cells by Ca2+-dependent sites. Dev Biol. 1981 Oct 30;87(2):340–350. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(81)90157-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Urushihara H., Ozaki H. S., Takeichi M. Immunological detection of cell surface components related with aggregation of Chinese hamster and chick embryonic cells. Dev Biol. 1979 May;70(1):206–216. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(79)90017-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Xie H. X. Differences in the efficiency and stability of gene expression after transfection and nuclear injection: a study with a chick delta-crystallin gene. Cell Struct Funct. 1983 Dec;8(4):315–325. doi: 10.1247/csf.8.315. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Yoshida-Noro C., Suzuki N., Takeichi M. Molecular nature of the calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion system in mouse teratocarcinoma and embryonic cells studied with a monoclonal antibody. Dev Biol. 1984 Jan;101(1):19–27. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(84)90112-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Cell Biology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES