ADAM11 is the closest paralog of ADAM22 and ADAM23, and its orthologs have been found in vertebrates, but not in invertebrates. It has been reported that the Xenopus ADAM11 ortholog, xMDC11a, has an expression pattern associated with neural development, with a proposed role in cell migration [24]; and it has been reported in analyses using Northern blot and in situ hybridisation methods that the murine Adam11 gene is expressed in both the developing and adult nervous system [19,25]. These findings led us to hypothesise that ADAM11 is an integrin binder that plays an important role in the nervous system, as do ADAM22 and ADAM23. To determine the physiological functions of ADAM11, we generated and analysed Adam11 gene-targeted mice.