Chromosomal mapping of human armadillo genes belonging to the p120(ctn)/plakophilin subfamily

Abstract

Armadillo-like proteins are characterized by a series of armadillo repeats that are typically 42 to 45 amino acids in length. Three major subfamilies of Armadillo-like proteins can be distinguished on the basis of their number of repeats, their overall sequence similarity, and dispersion of the repeats throughout the protein. One of these is the p120(ctn)/plakophilin subfamily, which contains at least six members. We mapped the corresponding human genes by PCR on a monochromosomal cell hybrid mapping panel and by fluorescence in situ hybridization. The gene for plakophilin-1 (PKP1) was located at 1q32, the plakophilin-2 gene (PKP2) was located at 12p13, while the gene for p0071 was located at 2q23-q31. We confirmed the chromosomal localization of the p120(ctn) gene (CTNND1) at 11q11, the ARVCF gene at 22q11, and the delta-catenin/NPRAP gene (CTNND2) at 5p15. Although some of the Armadillo proteins are highly related to one another, the corresponding genes are dispersed throughout the human genome.