HECW2 (Gene)

This gene encodes a member of a family of E3 ubiquitin ligases which plays an important role in the proliferation, migration and differentiation of neural crest cells as a regulator of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF)/Ret signaling. This gene also plays an important role in angiogenesis through stabilization of endothelial cell-to-cell junctions as a regulator of angiomotin-like 1 stability. The encoded protein contains an N-terminal calcium/lipid-binding (C2) domain involved in membrane targeting, two-four WW domains responsible for cellular localization and substrate recognition, and a C-terminal homologous with E6-associated protein C-terminus (HECT) catalytic domain. Naturally occurring mutations in this gene are associated with neurodevelopmental delay, hypotonia, and epilepsy. The decreased expression of this gene in the aganglionic colon is associated with Hirschsprung's disease. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Feb 2017]