N-cadherin (NCAD) is a member of the cadherin cell-cell adhesion receptor family that includes P-, E-, and R-cadherin and liver cell adhesion molecule (L-CAM). N-Cadherin,, also known as Cadherin-2, encodes a 907-amino acid protein that includes a 159-amino acid signal sequence. Human and mouse nucleotide sequences are 96% identical. Mouse Ncad gene consists of 16 exons dispersed over more than 200 kb of genomic DNA. Human N-cadherin gene contains 16 exons and its sequence is highly similar to both the mouse NCAD gene (including the large first and second introns) and other cadherin genes. N-cadherin is mapped to 18q11.2. Cadherin regulates dendritic spine morphogenesis.