PCDH20 explained

Protocadherin-20 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PCDH20 gene.

This gene belongs to the protocadherin gene family, a subfamily of the cadherin superfamily. This gene encodes a protein which contains 6 extracellular cadherin domains, a transmembrane domain and a cytoplasmic tail differing from those of the classical cadherins. Although its specific function is undetermined, the cadherin-related neuronal receptor is thought to play a role in the establishment and function of specific cell-cell connections in the brain.^[1]

Further reading

• Suzuki ST . Recent progress in protocadherin research. . Exp. Cell Res. . 261 . 1 . 13–8 . 2000 . 11082270 . 10.1006/excr.2000.5039 .
• Nollet F, Kools P, van Roy F . Phylogenetic analysis of the cadherin superfamily allows identification of six major subfamilies besides several solitary members. . J. Mol. Biol. . 299 . 3 . 551–72 . 2000 . 10835267 . 10.1006/jmbi.2000.3777 .
• Yagi T, Takeichi M . Cadherin superfamily genes: functions, genomic organization, and neurologic diversity. . Genes Dev. . 14 . 10 . 1169–80 . 2000 . 10817752 . 10.1101/gad.14.10.1169. 44844497 . free .
• Gerhard DS, Wagner L, Feingold EA, etal . The Status, Quality, and Expansion of the NIH Full-Length cDNA Project: The Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) . Genome Res. . 14 . 10B . 2121–7 . 2004 . 15489334 . 10.1101/gr.2596504 . 528928 .
• Ota T, Suzuki Y, Nishikawa T, etal . Complete sequencing and characterization of 21,243 full-length human cDNAs . Nat. Genet. . 36 . 1 . 40–5 . 2004 . 14702039 . 10.1038/ng1285 . 21903526 . free .
• Strausberg RL, Feingold EA, Grouse LH, etal . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• Wu Q, Maniatis T . Large exons encoding multiple ectodomains are a characteristic feature of protocadherin genes . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 97 . 7 . 3124–9 . 2000 . 10716726 . 10.1073/pnas.060027397 . 16203 . free .
• Cross SH, Charlton JA, Nan X, Bird AP . Purification of CpG islands using a methylated DNA binding column . Nat. Genet. . 6 . 3 . 236–44 . 1994 . 8012384 . 10.1038/ng0394-236 . 12847618 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Entrez Gene: PCDH20 protocadherin 20.