title: Cloning, expression analysis, and chromosomal localization of BH-protocadherin (PCDH7), a novel member of the cadherin superfamily.
abstract: We have identified a novel member of the cadherin superfamily. Among the members of the superfamily, this protein exhibited the highest overall homology with protocadherin-1 (46-49% identity). Its mRNA was predominantly expressed in the brain and heart. Hence, we named the gene BH-protocadherin (BH-Pcdh) (HGMW-approved symbol PCDH7). BH-Pcdh has an extracellular domain consisting of seven repeats of the cadherin motif (EC 1 to 7). EC2 of BH-Pcdh is unique in having a 55-amino-acid insertion in the middle of the motif. There are three isoforms of BH-Pcdh, denoted -a, -b, and -c, which have different cytoplasmic tails and a 47-amino-acid deletion in the EC2-3 region of BH-Pcdh-c. While only a 9.0-kb message was detected in normal tissues, 4.5- and 9.0-kb mRNA species were seen in the human lung carcinoma cell line A549. Furthermore, only the 4.5-kb mRNA was detected in HeLa cell S3 and human gastric cancer cell lines MKN28 and KATO-III. Southern blot analysis indicated that the BH-Pcdh gene is likely to be conserved among various vertebrates. The BH-Pcdh gene was localized to human chromosome 4p15. Interestingly, 4p15 is a region of loss of heterozygosity in some head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshitomo-Nakagawa
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Seki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sugano
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D015820:Cadherins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002894:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D009928:Organ Specificity; D000091363:Protocadherins; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; C113391:PCDH7 protein, human; D000091363:Protocadherins