The neural cell adhesion molecules N-CAM are to date the best characterized adhesion molecules of the nervous system. They have a high content of sialic acid residues which are present in the form of unusual sialic acid polymers. During development, a 3 fold decrease in the sialic acid content is observed. These changes in the degree of sialylation profoundly affect the binding properties of the molecules. A subpopulation of mouse brain N-CAM bears a carbohydrate determinant shared with other brain cell surface proteins and with the HNK-1 antigen of natural killer cells. Not only the carbohydrate side chains but also the protein moieties of the N-CAMs are heterogeneous. Three polypeptides of 180 K, 140 K and 120 K have been characterized in mouse brain. The 180 K and 140 K chains span the membrane. They differ mainly by the length of their cytoplasmic extensions. These intracellular domains are unusually long and contain phosphorylated serine residues. The 120 K chain exists in two forms, one membrane-bound and one soluble. Earlier studies had shown the presence of N-CAM on neurones and astrocytes of the mouse central nervous system, whereas cultured astrocytes had been reported to be N-CAM-negative. Recent results show that N-CAM is also expressed on astrocytes in culture. To study expression and heterogeneity of N-CAM polypeptides at the mRNA and gene level, cDNA clones for mouse N-CAM have been isolated. They reveal multiple mRNA species in mouse brain. By contrast, the corresponding sequences seem to be present only a few times, perhaps only once, in the mouse genome.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)