Neurocan (NCAN)

Neurocan was first described in the early postnatal rat brain where it accounts for 20 to 30% of the total chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan. Rauch et al. (1992) cloned the rat cDNA using degenerate primers based on partial amino acid sequence of immunoaffinity-purified protein. The mouse neurocan cDNA encodes a deduced 1,257-amino acid protein with a predicted molecular mass of 136 kD. The large protein is processed into a smaller form in the adult brain. The predicted protein has a 22-amino acid signal peptide followed by an immunoglobin-like domain and repeating motifs characteristic of the hyaluronic acid-binding region of aggregating proteoglycans. The C terminus shows approximately 60% identity to the fibroblast and cartilage proteoglycans versican and aggreca).