The genes for the calcium-dependent cell adhesion molecules P- and E-cadherin are tandemly arranged in the human genome.

Cadherins constitute a gene family of Ca(2+)-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecules involved in the morphogenesis and maintenance of tissue integrity. E- and P-cadherin are members of the cadherin family that are both expressed in epithelial tissues. Here we present the localization of the human P-cadherin gene at 32 kb upstream of the human E-cadherin gene, mapping it to chromosome 16q22.1. Tandem arrangement of two cell-cell adhesion molecules from the cadherin family has also been reported in chicken. This is the first evidence for the direct linkage of two cadherins in mammals. The evolutionary conservation of the tandem arrangement of two genes encoding cell adhesion molecules suggests that the close proximity of the genes may be important for the regulation of the genes.