Formation, differentiation and plasticity of synapses, the specialized cell-cell contacts through which neurons communicate, all require interactions between pre- and post-synaptic partners. Several synaptically localized adhesion molecules potentially capable of mediating these interactions have been identified.

Functional studies suggest roles for some of them in target recognition (e.g. SYG-1 and sidekicks), formation and alignment of synaptic specializations (e.g. SynCAM, [[neuroligin]] and neurexin), and regulation of synaptic structure and function (e.g. [[cadherin]]s and [[syndecan]])
((Yamagata M, Sanes JR, Weiner JA. Synaptic adhesion molecules. Curr Opin Cell
Biol. 2003 Oct;15(5):621-32. Review. PubMed PMID: 14519398.
)).