Protocadherin alpha-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PCDHA1gene.[1][2]
This gene is a member of the protocadherin alpha gene cluster, one of three related gene clusters tandemly linked on chromosome five that demonstrate an unusual genomic organization similar to that of B-cell and T-cell receptor gene clusters. The alpha gene cluster is composed of 15 cadherin superfamily genes related to the mouse CNR genes and consists of 13 highly similar and 2 more distantly related coding sequences. The tandem array of 15 N-terminal exons, or variable exons, are followed by downstream C-terminal exons, or constant exons, which are shared by all genes in the cluster. The large, uninterrupted N-terminal exons each encode six cadherin ectodomains while the C-terminal exons encode the cytoplasmic domain. These neural cadherin-like cell adhesion proteins are integral plasma membrane proteins that most likely play a critical role in the establishment and function of specific cell-cell connections in the brain. Alternative splicing has been observed and additional variants have been suggested but their full-length nature has yet to be determined.[2]
References
↑Wu Q, Maniatis T (Jul 1999). "A striking organization of a large family of human neural cadherin-like cell adhesion genes". Cell. 97 (6): 779–90. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80789-8. PMID10380929.
Nollet F, Kools P, van Roy F (2000). "Phylogenetic analysis of the cadherin superfamily allows identification of six major subfamilies besides several solitary members". J. Mol. Biol. 299 (3): 551–72. doi:10.1006/jmbi.2000.3777. PMID10835267.
Schmutz J, Martin J, Terry A, et al. (2004). "The DNA sequence and comparative analysis of human chromosome 5". Nature. 431 (7006): 268–74. doi:10.1038/nature02919. PMID15372022.
Sugino H, Hamada S, Yasuda R, et al. (2000). "Genomic organization of the family of CNR cadherin genes in mice and humans". Genomics. 63 (1): 75–87. doi:10.1006/geno.1999.6066. PMID10662547.
