Chloride channel accessory 3, also known as CLCA3, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the CLCA3Ppseudogene. The protein encoded by this gene is a chloride channel.[1] This protein is not expressed in humans but is in certain other species such as mouse.
This gene is a transcribed pseudogene belonging to the calcium sensitive chloride conductance protein family. To date, all members of this gene family map to the same site on chromosome 1p31-p22 and share high degrees of homology in size, sequence and predicted structure, but differ significantly in their tissue distributions. This gene contains several nonsense codons compared to other family members that render the transcript a candidate for nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), although this gene is translated into a well characterized protein which has been shown to decorate mucin granule containing vesicles. Protein structure prediction methods suggest the N-terminal region of CLCA3 protein is a zinc metalloprotease, and the protein is not an ion channel per se.[2]
↑Gruber AD, Pauli BU (March 1999). "Molecular cloning and biochemical characterization of a truncated, secreted member of the human family of Ca2+-activated Cl− channels". Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1444 (3): 418–23. doi:10.1016/S0167-4781(99)00008-1. PMID10095065.
↑Pawłowski K, Lepistö M, Meinander N, et al. (2006). "Novel conserved hydrolase domain in the CLCA family of alleged calcium-activated chloride channels". Proteins. 63 (3): 424–39. doi:10.1002/prot.20887. PMID16470849.
Pauli BU, Abdel-Ghany M, Cheng HC, et al. (2000). "Molecular characteristics and functional diversity of CLCA family members". Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. 27 (11): 901–5. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1681.2000.03358.x. PMID11071307.
Gruber AD, Pauli BU (1999). "Clustering of the human CLCA gene family on the short arm of chromosome 1 (1p22-31)". Genome. 42 (5): 1030–2. doi:10.1139/gen-42-5-1030. PMID10584316.
