protein_function: Cadherins are calcium-dependent cell adhesion proteins.They preferentially interact with themselves in a homophilicmanner in connecting cells; cadherins may thus contribute to thesorting of heterogeneous cell types. Acts as a regulator of neuralstem cells quiescence by mediating anchorage of neural stem cellsto ependymocytes in the adult subependymal zone: upon cleavage byMMP24, CDH2-mediated anchorage is affected, leading to modulateneural stem cell quiescence (PubMed:24952463). CDH2 may beinvolved in neuronal recognition mechanism. In hippocampalneurons, may regulate dendritic spine density..
Cadherin-2(CDH2), also known as neural cadherin(NCAD), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CDH2 gene. It is a classical cadherin from the cadherin superfamily. This gene is mapped to 18q12.1. Cadherin-2 is expressed in the brain, skeletal and cardiac muscle. Cadherin-2 is commonly found in cancer cells and provides a mechanism for transendothelial migration. It is a calcium dependent cell-cell adhesion glycoprotein comprising five extracellular cadherin repeats, a transmembrane region and a highly conserved cytoplasmic tail. The protein functions during gastrulation and is required for establishment of left-right asymmetry. At certain central nervous system synapses, presynaptic to postsynaptic adhesion is mediated at least in part by this gene product.