The protein encoded by this gene is a member of a family of actin-related proteins (ARPs) which share significant amino acid sequence identity to conventional actins. Both actins and ARPs have an actin fold, which is an ATP-binding cleft, as a common feature. The ARPs are involved in diverse cellular processes, including vesicular transport, spindle orientation, nuclear migration and chromatin remodeling. This gene (ACTL7A), and related gene, ACTL7B, are intronless, and are located approximately 4 kb apart in a head-to-head orientation within the familial dysautonomia candidate region on 9q31. Based on mutational analysis of the ACTL7A gene in patients with this disorder, it was concluded that it is unlikely to be involved in the pathogenesis of dysautonomia. The ACTL7A gene is expressed in a wide variety of adult tissues, however, its exact function is not known.[6]
^"Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^"Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^Chadwick BP, Mull J, Helbling LA, Gill S, Leyne M, Robbins CM, Pinkett HW, Makalowska I, Maayan C, Blumenfeld A, Axelrod FB, Brownstein M, Gusella JF, Slaugenhaupt SA (Jul 1999). "Cloning, mapping, and expression of two novel actin genes, actin-like-7A (ACTL7A) and actin-like-7B (ACTL7B), from the familial dysautonomia candidate region on 9q31". Genomics. 58 (3): 302–9. doi:10.1006/geno.1999.5848. PMID10373328.
Coutts AS, MacKenzie E, Griffith E, Black DM (2003). "TES is a novel focal adhesion protein with a role in cell spreading". J. Cell Sci. 116 (Pt 5): 897–906. doi:10.1242/jcs.00278. PMID12571287. S2CID26602119.
