E-cadherin (CDH1) - Marker for non-neural epithelial cells

The cadherins are a large family of transmembrane proteins that are important for cell-to-cell adhesion by formation of adherence junctions. All cadherins are dependent on Ca²⁺ ions for their function. E-cadherin is a well studied protein that is widely expressed in non-neural epithelial cells in the human body. E-cadherin has a large number of known interaction partners including beta catenin. E-cadherin expression is important for normal embryonic development, and loss of E-cadherin has been implicated in cancer progression.