PCDHB7 explained

Protocadherin beta-7 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PCDHB7 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. The transcript for this particular family member uses more than one polyadenylation site.

Further reading

• 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 .
• 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 .
• Maruyama K, Sugano S . Oligo-capping: a simple method to replace the cap structure of eukaryotic mRNAs with oligoribonucleotides . Gene . 138 . 1–2 . 171–4 . 1994 . 8125298 . 10.1016/0378-1119(94)90802-8 .
• Suzuki Y . Construction and characterization of a full length-enriched and a 5'-end-enriched cDNA library . Gene . 200 . 1–2 . 149–56 . 1997 . 9373149 . 10.1016/S0378-1119(97)00411-3 . vanc. Yoshitomo-Nakagawa K . Maruyama K . 3 . Suyama . Akira . Sugano . Sumio .
• 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 .
• Wu Q . Comparative DNA Sequence Analysis of Mouse and Human Protocadherin Gene Clusters . Genome Res. . 11 . 3 . 389–404 . 2001 . 11230163 . 10.1101/gr.167301 . 311048 . vanc. Zhang T . Cheng JF . 3 . Kim . Y . Grimwood . J . Schmutz . J . Dickson . M . Noonan . JP . Zhang . MQ .
• 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 .
• Strausberg RL . 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 . vanc. Feingold EA . Grouse LH . 3 . Derge . JG . Klausner . RD . Collins . FS . Wagner . L . Shenmen . CM . Schuler . GD . 2002PNAS...9916899M . 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: PCDHB7 protocadherin beta 7.