Description
This gene encodes the peptide hormones calcitonin, calcitonin gene-related peptide and katacalcin by tissue-specific alternative RNA splicing of the gene transcripts and cleavage of inactive precursor proteins. Calcitonin is involved in calcium regulation and acts to regulate phosphorus metabolism. Calcitonin gene-related peptide functions as a vasodilator and as an antimicrobial peptide while katacalcin is a calcium-lowering peptide. Multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Aug 2014]