Doublecortin Domain Containing Protein 1 (DCDC1)

By large-scale DNA sequencing of a human fetal brain cDNA library, Zeng et al. (2003) isolated a cDNA encoding DCDC1. The deduced 354-amino acid protein has a predicted molecular mass of 39.8 kD. It contains a central doublecortin domain, an evolutionarily conserved domain found in DCX and DCX-related proteins that is important for microtubule binding and microtubule polymerization.

RT-PCR analysis of adult tissues detected high expression of DCDC1 in testis, with lower levels in lung, kidney, and pancreas. Further RT-PCR analysis showed that expression of DCDC1 is much higher in fetal brain than in adult brain. Zeng et al. (2003) determined that the DCDC1 gene contains 9 exons and spans 107 kb.By genomic sequence analysis, Zeng et al. (2003) mapped the DCDC1 gene to chromosome 11p13.