Dishevelled, Dsh Homolog 3 (DVL3)

DVL3 is a member of a multi-gene family which shares strong similarity with the Drosophila dishevelled gene, dsh. The Drosophila dishevelled gene encodes a cytoplasmic phosphoprotein that regulates cell proliferation.DVL3 encodes a predicted 716-amino acid polypeptide that shows 74% nucleotide homology with human DVL1 and 71% homology with the mouse Dvl1 gene. DVL1 and DVL3 share 64% amino acid identity. PCR carried out using DNA from rodent human somatic cell hybrids and DVL3 specific primers led to the assignment of DVL3 to human chromosome 3. Hybridization of poly(A) mRNA with the DVL3 cDNA revealed a 2.9-kb transcript with abundant expression in skeletal muscle, pancreas and heart.The 5.9-kb form was abundant in fetal tissues but the 5.0-kb form was absent from these tissues.