Homeobox Protein D13 (HOXD13)

HOXD13 belongs to the homeobox family of genes. The homeobox genes encode a highly conserved family of transcription factors that play an important role in morphogenesis in all multicellular organisms. Mammals possess four similar homeobox gene clusters, HOXA, HOXB, HOXC and HOXD, located on different chromosomes, consisting of 9 to 11 genes arranged in tandem. This gene is one of several homeobox HOXD genes located in a cluster on chromosome 2. Deletions that remove the entire HOXD gene cluster or the 5' end of this cluster have been associated with severe limb and genital abnormalities. HOXD13 gene encodes a polypeptide of 335 amino acids that has high homology to the chicken Hoxd13 gene. They noted that the 5-prime end of the gene encodes 15 alanine residues.