CEP290 Amino Acid Sequence

Created from my original watercolor painting, this fine art print depicts the amino acid sequence of protein CEP290, encoded by the CEP290 gene.  It plays a role in ciliogenesis, the formation of cilia which are those cool finger-like projections you see protruding from cells. Though cilia can be motile (wiggle wiggle), some types happen to be non-motile and more into chatting aka participating in various signal pathways. Notably, they are key players in sensory cells such as photoreceptors in the eye and cochlear hair cells in the ear. Defects in CEP290 are associated with various ciliopathies (cilia are no good) for example Joubert syndrome, and may include features such as blindness, deafness, renal disease, and brain abnormalities.