Neurochondrin (NCDN)

Neurochondrin is a leucine-rich cytoplasmic protein, which is highly similar to a mouse protein that negatively regulates Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II phosphorylation and may be essential for spatial learning processes. Several alternatively spliced transcript variants of this gene have been described.Abundantly expressed in whole adult brain and in all individual brain regions examined, including spinal cord. Weakly expressed in ovary, testis, and fetal brain.According to one study, Norbin can modulate signaling activty and expression of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5; modulating mice with targeted deletion of NCDN in the brain have phenotypic traits usually found in the rodent models of schizophrenia, including disruptions in prepulse inhibition.