Identification and cloning of two species of cadherins in bovine endothelial cells.

By taking advantage of the extensive homology found in the cytoplasmic domains of several cloned cadherin molecules, we were able to identify two species of cadherins in bovine aortic endothelial cells using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The two species of PCR products were subsequently used as DNA probes to isolate the corresponding cDNA clones from bovine adrenal microvascular endothelial cells. Sequence comparison with other characterized cadherin molecules indicates that the major cDNA species encodes a cadherin molecule highly homologous to chicken and mouse N-cadherins, while the minor species is most homologous to mouse and human P-cadherins. Northern blot analysis with the corresponding cDNA probe showed a wide distribution of bovine N-cadherin among non-neuronal, as well as neuronal tissues, while P-cadherin was most abundant in kidney among all the bovine tissues tested, but was undetectable in placenta.