Protocadherin 9 (PCDH9)

PCDH9 belongs to the protocadherin gene family, a subfamily of the cadherin superfamily. The mRNA encodes a cadherin-related neuronal receptor that localizes to synaptic junctions and is putatively involved in specific neuronal connections and signal transduction. Sharing a characteristic with other protocadherin genes, this gene has a notably large exon that encodes six cadherin domains and a transmembrane region. Two alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been found for this gene.Strehl et al. (1998) used deletion hybrids and fluorescence in situ hybridization to localize the PCDH9 gene to chromosome 13q21.1. Northern blot analysis revealed that PCDH9 produces 2 or more mRNAs of different sizes expressed in a variety of tissues.