This gene is a member of the protocadherin gamma gene cluster, one of three related clusters tandemly linked on chromosome five. These gene clusters have an immunoglobulin-like organization, suggesting that a novel mechanism may be involved in their regulation and expression. The gamma gene cluster includes 22 genes divided into 3 subfamilies. Subfamily A contains 12 genes, subfamily B contains 7 genes and 2 pseudogenes, and the more distantly related subfamily C contains 3 genes. The tandem array of 22 large, variable region exons are followed by a constant region, containing 3 exons shared by all genes in the cluster. Each variable region exon encodes the extracellular region, which includes 6 cadherin ectodomains and a transmembrane region. The constant region exons encode the common cytoplasmic region. These neural cadherin-like cell adhesion proteins most likely play a critical role in the establishment and function of specific cell-cell connections in the brain. Alternative splicing has been described for the gamma cluster genes. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Forensic Context
A study in mice demonstrated that the PCDHGB1 was significantly upregulated in the hippocampus of methamphetamine-addicted animals following a running exercise intervention, which correlated with a reduction in conditioned place preference days [Li et al. DOI:10.21037/atm-22-450]. In human forensic research, members of the protocadherin gamma gene family, including PCDHGB4, PCDHGB6, and PCDHGB7, were identified as differentially expressed in peripheral blood across age groups and were incorporated into a validated mRNA-based age prediction model [Liao et al. DOI:10.1016/j.fsigen.2025.103373].