NEL Like Protein 2 (NELL2)

NELL2 encodes a cytoplasmic protein that contains epidermal growth factor (EGF) -like repeats. The encoded heterotrimeric protein may be involved in cell growth regulation and differentiation. A similar protein in rodents is involved in craniosynostosis. An alternative splice variant has been described but its full length sequence has not been determined.

NELL2 open reading frame encodes an 816-amino acid polypeptide. The amino acid sequence of NELL2 showed 80% identity to that of chicken 'nel,' and Watanabe et al. (1996) stated that NELL2 may be the actual interspecies homolog of the 'nel' gene. NELL2 was strongly expressed as a 3.6-kb transcript in human adult and fetal brain tissues.