Entrez gene ID | | 56140 |
Official gene symbol | | PCDHA8 |
Full name | | protocadherin alpha 8 |
Aliases | | ,PCDH-ALPHA8, |
Gene summary | | 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. [provided by RefSeq] |
Location | | Chromosome: 5 Locus: 5q31 |
Gene position | | 140220907 - 140391929 Map Viewer |
Gene orientation | | plus |
Gene size | | 171023 bp |
Gene sequence |
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OMIM ID | | 606314 |
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