Background
DCX (doublecortin, N-GST chimera)contains 2 doublecortin domains and belongs to the doublecortin family. It is highly expressed in neuronal cells of fetal brain, but not expressed in other fetal tissues. In the adult, it is highly expressed in the brain frontal lobe, but very low expression in other regions of brain, and not detected in heart, placenta, lung, liver, skeletal muscles, kidney and pancreas. DCX is a microtubule-associated protein required for initial steps of neuronal dispersion and cortex lamination during cerebral cortex development. It may act by competing with the putative neuronal protein kinase DCAMKL1 in binding to a target protein. DCX may in that way participate in a signaling pathway that is crucial for neuronal interaction before and during migration, possibly as part of a calcium ion-dependent signal transduction pathway. It may be part with LIS-1 of a overlapping, but distinct, signaling pathways that promote neuronal migration. Defects in DCX are the cause of lissencephaly X-linked type 1 and subcortical band heterotopia X-linked.
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