Plakophilin 4 (PKP4)

Armadillo-like proteins are characterized by a series of armadillo repeats, first defined in the Drosophila """armadillo""" gene product, that are typically 42 to 45 amino acids in length. These proteins can be divided into subfamilies based on their number of repeats, their overall sequence similarity, and the dispersion of the repeats throughout their sequences. Members of the p120(ctn)/plakophilin subfamily of Armadillo-like proteins, including CTNND1, CTNND2, PKP1, PKP2, PKP4, and ARVCF. PKP4 may be a component of desmosomal plaque and other adhesion plaques and is thought to be involved in regulating junctional plaque organization and cadherin function. Multiple transcript variants have been found for this gene, but the full-length nature of only two of them have been described so far.