PCDHB15 explained

Protocadherin beta-15 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PCDHB15 gene.^{[1] [2]}

This gene is a member of the protocadherin beta gene cluster, one of three related gene clusters tandemly linked on chromosome five. The gene clusters demonstrate an unusual genomic organization similar to that of B-cell and T-cell receptor gene clusters. The beta cluster contains 16 genes and 3 pseudogenes, each encoding 6 extracellular cadherin domains and a cytoplasmic tail that deviates from others in the cadherin superfamily. The extracellular domains interact in a homophilic manner to specify differential cell-cell connections. Unlike the alpha and gamma clusters, the transcripts from these genes are made up of only one large exon, not sharing common 3' exons as expected. These neural cadherin-like cell adhesion proteins are integral plasma membrane proteins. Their specific functions are unknown but they most likely play a critical role in the establishment and function of specific cell-cell neural connections.

Further reading

• 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 .
• 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 .
• Vanhalst K, Kools P, Vanden Eynde E, van Roy F . The human and murine protocadherin-beta one-exon gene families show high evolutionary conservation, despite the difference in gene number. . FEBS Lett. . 495 . 1–2 . 120–5 . 2001 . 11322959 . 10.1016/S0014-5793(01)02372-9 . 36671435 . free .
• Wu Q, Zhang T, Cheng JF, etal . Comparative DNA sequence analysis of mouse and human protocadherin gene clusters. . Genome Res. . 11 . 3 . 389–404 . 2001 . 11230163 . 10.1101/gr.167301 . 311048 .
• 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 .

Notes and References

1. Wu Q, Maniatis T . A striking organization of a large family of human neural cadherin-like cell adhesion genes . Cell . 97 . 6 . 779–90 . Jul 1999 . 10380929 . 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80789-8 . 6014717 . free .
2. Web site: Entrez Gene: PCDHB15 protocadherin beta 15.