Protocadherin gamma-A12 is aprotein that in humans is encoded by thePCDHGA12gene.[5][6]
This gene is a member of the protocadherin gamma gene cluster, one of three related clusters tandemly linked onchromosome five. These gene clusters have animmunoglobulin-like organization, suggesting that a novel mechanism may be involved in theirregulation andexpression. The gamma gene cluster includes 22 genes divided into 3 subfamilies. Subfamily A contains 12 genes, subfamily B contains 7 genes and 2 pseudogenes, and the more distantly related subfamily C contains 3 genes. The tandem array of 22 large, variable region exons are followed by a constant region, containing 3 exons shared by all genes in the cluster. Each variable regionexon encodes the extracellular region, which includes 6 cadherin ectodomains and a transmembrane region. The constant region exons encode the common cytoplasmic region. These neuralcadherin-like cell adhesion proteins most likely play a critical role in the establishment and function of specific cell-cell connections in the brain. Alternative splicing has been described for the gamma cluster genes.[6]
Nollet F, Kools P, van Roy F (2000). "Phylogenetic analysis of the cadherin superfamily allows identification of six major subfamilies besides several solitary members".J. Mol. Biol.299 (3):551–72.doi:10.1006/jmbi.2000.3777.PMID10835267.
Matsuyoshi N, Imamura S (1997). "Multiple cadherins are expressed in human fibroblasts".Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.235 (2):355–8.doi:10.1006/bbrc.1997.6707.PMID9199196.
