Headcase Homolog (HECA)

HECA is a homolog of the Drosophila 'headcase' protein (hdc). In Drosophila, hdc is required for adult development and is an inhibitor of epithelial sprouting and branching morphogenesis.

By searching an EST database and screening cDNA libraries to identify genes located in a region of chromosome 6q that is commonly deleted in pancreatic cancers, Makino et al. (2001) cloned HECA, which they called HDC. The deduced protein contains 543 amino acids and the transcript has a long 3-prime untranslated region. HECA shares 40% identity over 320 amino acids with Drosophila hdc. Northern blot analysis detected ubiquitous expression of a 5.6-kb transcript.