History/Discovery
DSCAM was first identified in an effort to characterize proteins located within human chromosome band 21q22, a region known to play a critical role in Down Syndrome. The name Down Syndrome Cell Adhesion Molecule was chosen because of the chromosomal location, its appropriate expression in developing neural tissue, and its structure as an Ig receptor related to other CAMs. The DSCAM protein structure is conserved with more than roughly 20% amino acid identity across the deuterostomes and protostomes, and assuming an ancestral homologous gene places the origin of the DSCAM gene at >600 million years ago. Since then, the DSCAM gene has been duplicated at least once in vertebrates and insects.
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