Collagen Type VI Alpha 4 (COL6a4)

While performing a genomewide association study of osteoarthritis susceptibility, Miyamoto et al. (2008) isolated the DVWA gene by RACE and RT-PCR analysis of LOC344875. The 2,250-basepair DVWA gene encodes a protein of 276 amino acids that lacks a signal peptide and contains 2 domains homologous to the von Willebrand factor A (VWA) domain.

Highest expression of DVWA was seen in normal and osteoarthritic cartilage using real-time PCR. Immunoprecipitation analysis of transfected cells followed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis revealed that DVWA binds to beta-tubulin (TUBB); binding was confirmed by immunoprecipitation and protein blot analyses.For discussion of a possible association between variation in the DWVA gene and susceptibiity to osteoarthritis.