Protocadherins are a large family of cadherin-like cell adhesion proteins that are involved in the establishment and maintenance of neuronal connections in the brain. There are three protocadherin gene clusters, designated alpha, beta and gamma, all of which contain multiple tandemly arranged genes. PCDH10 (protocadherin 10), also known as PCDH19 or OL-PCDH, is a 1,040 amino acid single-pass type I membrane protein that contains six cadherin domains and one transmembrane domain. Expressed at moderate levels in brain, ovary and testis and present at lower levels in all other tissues, PCDH10 functions as a calcium-dependent cell-adhesion protein that may function as a tumor suppressor. When underexpressed, PCDH10 is associated with the progression of various carcinomas, including gastric cancer.
