N-cadherin, also known as Cadherin-2 (CDH2) or neural cadherin (NCAD) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CDH2gene.[1][2] CDH2 has also been designated as CD325 (cluster of differentiation 325). N-cadherin is a transmembraneprotein expressed in multiple tissues and functions to mediate cell–cell adhesion. In cardiac muscle, N-cadherin is an integral component in adherens junctions residing at intercalated discs, which function to mechanically and electrically couple adjacent cardiomyocytes. While mutations in CDH2 have not thus far been associated with human disease, alterations in expression and integrity of N-cadherin protein has been observed in various forms of disease, including human dilated cardiomyopathy.
N-cadherin plays a role in development as a calcium dependent cell–cell adhesion glycoprotein that functions during gastrulation and is required for establishment of left-right asymmetry.[8]
N-cadherin is widely expressed in the embryo post-implantation, showing high levels in the mesoderm with sustained expression through adulthood.[9] N-cadherin mutation during development has the most significant effect on cell adhesion in the primitive heart; dissociated myocytes and abnormal heart tube development occur.[10] N-cadherin plays a role in the development of the vertebrate heart at the transition of epithelial cells to trabecular and compact myocardial cell layer formation.[11] An additional study showed that myocytes expressing a dominant negative N-cadherin mutant showed significant abnormalities in myocyte distribution and migration towards the endocardium, resulting in defects in trabecular formation within the myocardium.[12][13]
Mouse models employing transgenesis have highlighted the function of N-cadherin in cardiac muscle. Mice with altered expression of N-cadherin and/or E-cadherin showed a dilated cardiomyopathy phenotype, likely due to malfunction of intercalated discs.[21] In agreement with this, mice with ablation of N-cadherin in adult hearts via a cardiac-specific tamoxifen-inducible Cre N-cadherin transgene showed disrupted assembly of intercalated discs, dilated cardiomyopathy, impaired cardiac function, decreased sarcomere length, increased Z-line thickness, decreases in connexin 43, and a loss in muscular tension. Mice died within two months of transgene expression, mainly due to spontaneous ventriculartachycardia.[22] Further analysis of N-cadherin knockout mice revealed that the arrhythmias were likely due to ion channel remodeling and aberrant Kv1.5 channel function. These animals showed a prolonged action potential duration, reduced density of inward rectifier potassium channel and decreased expression of Kv1.5, KCNE2 and cortactin combined with disrupted actincytoskeleton at the sarcolemma.[23]
In neural cells, at certain central nervous system synapses, presynaptic to postsynaptic adhesion is mediated at least in part by N-cadherin.[24] N-cadherins interact with catenins to play an important role in learning and memory (For full article see Cadherin-catenin complex in learning and memory).
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 pathway, which phosphorylates beta-catenins attached to both N-cadherin (this protein) and E-cadherins. This causes the intercellular connection between two adjacent endothelial cells to fail and allows the cancer cell to slip through.[25]
Mutations in CDH2 have not been conclusively linked to any human disorders. One study investigating genetic underpinnings of obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette disorder found that while CDH2 variants are likely not disease-causing as single entities, they may confer risk when examined as part of a panel of related cell–cell adhesion genes.[26] Further studies in larger cohorts will be required to unequivocally determine this.
In human dilated cardiomyopathy, it was shown that N-cadherin expression was enhanced and arranged in a disarrayed fashion, suggesting that disorganization of N-cadherin protein in heart disease may be a component of remodeling.[27]
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↑Angst BD, Khan LU, Severs NJ, Whitely K, Rothery S, Thompson RP, Magee AI, Gourdie RG (January 1997). "Dissociated spatial patterning of gap junctions and cell adhesion junctions during postnatal differentiation of ventricular myocardium". Circulation Research. 80 (1): 88–94. doi:10.1161/01.res.80.1.88. PMID8978327.
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↑Linask KK, Knudsen KA, Gui YH (May 1997). "N-cadherin-catenin interaction: necessary component of cardiac cell compartmentalization during early vertebrate heart development". Developmental Biology. 185 (2): 148–64. doi:10.1006/dbio.1997.8570. PMID9187080.
↑Ong LL, Kim N, Mima T, Cohen-Gould L, Mikawa T (January 1998). "Trabecular myocytes of the embryonic heart require N-cadherin for migratory unit identity". Developmental Biology. 193 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1006/dbio.1997.8775. PMID9466883.
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↑Zuppinger C, Schaub MC, Eppenberger HM (April 2000). "Dynamics of early contact formation in cultured adult rat cardiomyocytes studied by N-cadherin fused to green fluorescent protein". Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. 32 (4): 539–55. doi:10.1006/jmcc.1999.1086. PMID10756112.
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