Integral membrane protein DGCR2/IDD 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 encoded by the DGCR2 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...

.

Deletions of the 22q11.2 have been associated with a wide range of developmental defects (notably DiGeorge syndrome

DiGeorge syndrome

22q11.2 deletion syndrome, which has several presentations including DiGeorge syndrome , DiGeorge anomaly, velo-cardio-facial syndrome, Shprintzen syndrome, conotruncal anomaly face syndrome, Strong syndrome, congenital thymic aplasia, and thymic hypoplasia is a syndrome caused by the deletion of a...

, velocardiofacial syndrome, conotruncal anomaly face syndrome and isolated conotruncal cardiac defects) classified under the acronym CATCH 22. The DGCR2 gene encodes a novel putative adhesion receptor protein, which could play a role in neural crest

Neural crest

Neural crest cells are a transient, multipotent, migratory cell population unique to vertebrates that gives rise to a diverse cell lineage including melanocytes, craniofacial cartilage and bone, smooth muscle, peripheral and enteric neurons and glia....

cells migration, a process which has been proposed to be altered in DiGeorge syndrome.

Further reading