The Cadherin Superfamily in Neural Circuit Assembly

Abstract

The cadherin superfamily comprises a large, diverse collection of cell surface receptors that are expressed in the nervous system throughout development and have been shown to be essential for the proper assembly of the vertebrate nervous system. As our knowledge of each family member has grown, it has become increasingly clear that the functions of various cadherin subfamilies are intertwined: they can be present in the same protein complexes, impinge on the same developmental processes, and influence the same signaling pathways. This interconnectedness may illustrate a central way in which core developmental events are controlled to bring about the robust and precise assembly of neural circuitry. Moreover, studies of cadherins reveal their involvement in the core developmental processes responsible for the robust assembly of neural circuits.

Motor pools organization depends on the combined function of N-cadherin and type II cadherins

“…Genetic experiments confirmed that redundant function of cad-6, cad-9, cad-10 is at the basis of specific neuronal interactions in the retina and hippocampus (Basu et al, 2017;Duan et al, 2018). These data indicate that elimination of multiple members of a group is necessary to reveal their contributions and support a model based on an adhesive code, where redundancy and combinatorial expression is used to generate developmental programs that are both specific and robust (Jontes, 2018). Surprisingly, our findings show that elimination of all the members of two out of three specificity groups has no effect on motor neuron spatial organization.…”

“…Several processes, such as neurogenesis, migration, dendritic elaboration, axon guidance and synapse formation, have to be coordinated to ensure the wiring of neural circuits. The mechanisms controlling these events often rely on expression of molecules promoting specific recognition, and the cadherin superfamily of cell adhesion molecules has been implicated in most of these processes (Takeichi, 2007;Jontes, 2018). In particular, type II classical cadherins are expressed in the central nervous system in complex patterns often delineating discrete structures and circuits, suggesting important roles for neuronal organization and connectivity (Hirano and Takeichi, 2012).…”

Identification of an adhesive interface for the non-clustered δ1 protocadherin-1 involved in respiratory diseases

“…Last, the length of δ1 protocadherins’ extracellular domains, with seven EC repeats, suggest a distinct set of functional roles yet to be determined. Given these differences and their differential expression in the brain 20,26,27,54,55 , an important question about δ protocadherins’ function pertains to whether they are involved in neuronal adhesion and circuitry specificity or rather mediate neuronal self-recognition and avoidance as proposed for the clustered protocadherins 13,56 .…”

Analysis of Population Structure and Differentially Selected Regions in Guangxi Native Breeds by Restriction Site Associated with DNA Sequencing

“…were observed from GX-Cobb group. Cadherin superfamily is made up of a large and multitudinous collection of molecules, related to various fundamental cellular processes such as cell recognition and cell-cell adhesion (Gul et al 2017), furthermore, members in superfamily heavily impact the neural development (Jontes 2018). Meanwhile, we got two genes (INHBA, INHBB) that are relevant to the generation of activin and inhibin, the presence of them can regulate FSH.…”