Placental Cadherin (P-cadherin)

Placental cadherin (P-cadherin) is a member of the cadherin gene family. Other members include epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin) and neural cadherin (N-cadherin). A great deal is known about N- and E-cadherin. From the cancer standpoint, loss of E-cadherin in lobular breast cancer and in diffuse gastric cancer is a well-established tumor-initiating or promoting event. N-cadherin expression in mammary cell lines can stabilize fibroblast growth factor, resulting in an invasive phenotype. Until recently, P-cadherin was less studied with respect to cancer. It was originally identified as having an important role in implantation and embryogenesis in mice. In a development setting, Daniel et al. showed that P-cadherin is localized to the cap cells in the terminal end buds of the developing murine mammary gland.