The name Doublecortin comes from the unusual layering of the cortex in this form of lissencephaly(smooth brain), which appears to have a second deep cortical layer of neurons. This layer consists of neurons which did not migrate from the subventricular zone to the normal cortical layer. Doublecortin is a microtubule associated protein that stabilizes and bundles microtubules. A conserved doublecortin domain mediates the interaction with microtubules, and interestingly most missense mutations cluster in this domain.
