Cloning and expression of mouse cadherin-7, a type-II cadherin isolated from the developing eye

We report the molecular cloning of Cadherin-7 from the embryonic mouse eye. The deduced amino acid sequence shows it to be a type-II cadherin, similar to Xenopus F-cadherin and chick Cadherin-7. The mouse Cadherin-7 gene maps to chromosome 1, outside the conserved linkage group of cadherin genes on chromosome 8. Cadherin-7 is expressed throughout the entire period of neural development and mRNA levels are developmentally regulated in both the embryonic and the postnatal central nervous system (CNS). In adult mice, Cadherin-7 expression is restricted to the CNS, with highest levels in the retina. In the developing eye, Cadherin-7 mRNA is found only in the neural retina. It is expressed by all retinal neuroblasts from E11 onward, but becomes progressively restricted to neurons in the inner neuroblast and developing ganglion cell layers (GCL). In the adult retina it is confined to subpopulations of cells in the GCL and to amacrine cells in the inner part of the inner nuclear layer. This expression pattern suggests a role for Cadherin-7 in mouse retinal development, particularly in the formation and maintenance of the GCL.