Protein LCHN (LCHN)

LCHN contains an open reading frame of 455 amino acids, encoding a protein with a predicted molecular mass of approximately 51 kDa. Although LCHN is highly conserved between rat, mouse, and human, the deduced amino acid sequence of LCHN does not possess significant homology to other known genes. LCHN immunoreactivity is detected within the somatodendritic compartment of neurons, is also present on dendritic growth cones, but is not detected on astrocytes. The induction of LCHN in the hippocampus following ischemic injury may have functional consequences, as the ectopic over-expression of LCHN generated neurons with longer and more branched axons and dendrites. LCHN could play a role in neuritogenesis, as well as in neuronal recovery and/or restructuring in the hippocampus following transient cerebral ischemia.