Chromosome 14 open reading frame 104, also known as kintoun, is a protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 that in humans is encode by the KTU gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

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Function

Kintoun is a highly conserved protein involved in the preassembly of dynein

Dynein

Dynein is a motor protein in cells which converts the chemical energy contained in ATP into the mechanical energy of movement. Dynein transports various cellular cargo by "walking" along cytoskeletal microtubules towards the minus-end of the microtubule, which is usually oriented towards the cell...

 arm complexes which power cilia. These complexes are found in some cilia and are assembled in the cytoplasm

Cytoplasm

The cytoplasm is a small gel-like substance residing between the cell membrane holding all the cell's internal sub-structures , except for the nucleus. All the contents of the cells of prokaryote organisms are contained within the cytoplasm...

 prior to transport for cilia formation..

Clinical significance

Mutations in the C14orf104 are associated with primary ciliary dyskinesia

Primary ciliary dyskinesia

Primary ciliary dyskinesia , also known as immotile ciliary syndrome or Kartagener Syndrome ', is a rare, ciliopathic, autosomal recessive genetic disorder that causes a defect in the action of the cilia lining the respiratory tract and fallopian tube, and also of the flagella of sperm in...

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External links

• GeneReviews/NCBI/NIH/UW entry on Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia