This gene belongs to thehomeobox family of genes. The homeobox genes encode a highly conserved family oftranscription factors that play an important role inmorphogenesis in allmulticellular organisms.Mammals possess four similar homeobox gene clusters, HOXA, HOXB, HOXC and HOXD, which are located on differentchromosomes and consist of 9 to 11 genes arranged in tandem. This gene, HOXC5, is one of several homeobox HOXC genes located in a cluster onchromosome 12. Three genes, HOXC5,HOXC4 andHOXC6, share a 5' non-codingexon. Transcripts may include the shared exon spliced to the gene-specific exons, or they may include only the gene-specific exons. Two alternatively spliced variants have been described for HOXC5. The transcript variant which includes the shared exon apparently doesn't encode a protein. The protein-coding transcript variant contains gene-specific exons only.[7]
Boncinelli E, Acampora D, Pannese M, D'Esposito M, Somma R, Gaudino G, Stornaiuolo A, Cafiero M, Faiella A, Simeone A (1990). "Organization of human class I homeobox genes".Genome.31 (2):745–56.doi:10.1139/g89-133.PMID2576652.
