NCDN
Description
The NCDN (neurochondrin) is a protein-coding gene located on chromosome 1.
Neurochondrin, also known as its mouse homologue Norbin, is a protein encoded by the NCDN gene in humans. It is a leucine-rich cytoplasmic protein highly similar to the mouse protein Norbin, negatively regulating Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II phosphorylation and potentially essential for spatial learning processes. Several alternatively spliced transcript variants of this gene have been described. Norbin can modulate the signaling activity and expression of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5. Mice with targeted deletion of NCDN in the brain exhibit phenotypic traits usually found in rodent models of schizophrenia, including disruptions in prepulse inhibition. Furthermore, norbin protein expression is altered in the schizophrenia brain. Norbin also plays a role in regulating antimicrobial responses in neutrophils. Neurochondrin proteins induce hydroxyapatite resorptive activity in bone marrow cells resistant to bafilomycin A1, an inhibitor of macrophage- and osteoclast-mediated resorption. Expression of the gene is localized to chondrocyte, osteoblast, and osteocyte in the bone, and to the hippocampus and Purkinje cell layer of cerebellum in the brain.
Neurochondrin is likely involved in signal transduction within the nervous system, specifically by increasing the localization of GRM5/mGluR5 on the cell surface and positively regulating its signaling (PubMed:33711248). It is essential for spatial learning processes and acts as a negative regulator of Ca(2+)-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase 2 (CaMK2) phosphorylation. Neurochondrin may play a role in modulating melanin-concentrating hormone-mediated functions through its interaction with MCHR1, which interferes with G protein-coupled signal transduction. Additionally, it might be involved in bone metabolism and neurite outgrowth (Probable).
NCDN is also known as NEDIES.
