title: Identification and characterization of three members of a novel subclass of protocadherins.
abstract: Protocadherins are members of a nonclassic subfamily of calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecules in the cadherin superfamily. Although the extracellular domains have several common structural features, there is no extensive homology between the cytoplasmic domains of protocadherin subfamily members. We have identified a new subclass of protocadherins based on a shared and highly conserved 17-amino-acid cytoplasmic motif. The subclass currently consists of 18 protocadherin members. Two of these, PCDH18 and PCDH19, are novel protocadherins and a third is the human orthologue of mouse Pcdh10. All three genes encode six ectodomain repeats with cadherin-like attributes and, consistent with the structural characteristics of protocadherins, a large first exon encodes the extracellular domain of each gene.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, 06030, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wolverton
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lalande
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping / Q000379:methods; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000737:chemistry; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D023061:Gene Order; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009928:Organ Specificity / Q000235:genetics; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics; D000091363:Protocadherins; D051381:Rats; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods; D013552:Swine; D014960:X Chromosome / Q000235:genetics; D014982:Xenopus laevis; D015027:Zebrafish
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; C438603:PCDH10 protein, human; C438604:PCDH18 protein, human; C438605:PCDH19 protein, human; C115816:PCDH8 protein, human; C497204:Pcdh8 protein, mouse; D010455:Peptides; D000091363:Protocadherins