title: Cadherins: potential regulators in the faculty of language.
abstract: The cadherin superfamily is a large (now more than 100 proteins) protein family originally identified as cell adhesion molecules. Each cadherin shows distinct expression patterns in the nervous system, and their expressions are both spatially and temporally regulated and diverse among different species. Mounting evidence has suggested that cadherins play multiple roles in neural development and functions. Recently, using songbirds and mice, the potential role of cadherins in vocal behavior has been demonstrated. Here, we will briefly introduce general function of cadherins, and analyze the potential involvement of cadherins in vocal behaviors and their evolution.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Symbolic Cognitive Development, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan. Electronic address: Eiji.Matsunaga@brain.riken.jp.
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Matsunaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan; ERATO Okanoya Emotional Information Project, JST-ERATO, Japan; Emotional Information Joint Research Laboratory, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan. Electronic address: cokanoya@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okanoya
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D015820:Cadherins / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D009420:Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism; D014828:Vocalization, Animal
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins