NELL1 explained

Protein kinase C-binding protein NELL1 also known as NEL-like protein 1 (NELL1) or Nel-related protein 1 (NRP1) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NELL1 gene.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Function

This gene 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.^[2]

Recent study by UCLA researchers shows that administering the protein NELL-1 intravenously stimulates significant bone formation through the regenerative ability of stem cells.^[3]

Further reading

• Auffray C, Behar G, Bois F, etal . [IMAGE: molecular integration of the analysis of the human genome and its expression] . Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série III . 318 . 2 . 263–72 . 1995 . 7757816 .
• Ting K, Vastardis H, Mulliken JB, etal . Human NELL-1 expressed in unilateral coronal synostosis. . J. Bone Miner. Res. . 14 . 1 . 80–9 . 1999 . 9893069 . 10.1359/jbmr.1999.14.1.80 . 25664089 . free .
• Luce MJ, Burrows PD . The neuronal EGF-related genes NELL1 and NELL2 are expressed in hemopoietic cells and developmentally regulated in the B lineage. . Gene . 231 . 1–2 . 121–6 . 1999 . 10231576 . 10.1016/S0378-1119(99)00093-1 .
• Kuroda S, Oyasu M, Kawakami M, etal . Biochemical characterization and expression analysis of neural thrombospondin-1-like proteins NELL1 and NELL2 . Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. . 265 . 1 . 79–86 . 1999 . 10548494 . 10.1006/bbrc.1999.1638 .
• Maeda K, Matsuhashi S, Tabuchi K, etal . Brain specific human genes, NELL1 and NELL2, are predominantly expressed in neuroblastoma and other embryonal neuroepithelial tumors . Neurol. Med. Chir. (Tokyo) . 41 . 12 . 582–8; discussion 589 . 2002 . 11803583 . 10.2176/nmc.41.582 . free .
• Zhang X, Kuroda S, Carpenter D, etal . Craniosynostosis in transgenic mice overexpressing Nell-1 . J. Clin. Invest. . 110 . 6 . 861–70 . 2002 . 12235118 . 10.1172/JCI15375 . 151127 .
• Strausberg RL, Feingold EA, Grouse LH, etal . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• Okamoto K, Matsuzaka Y, Yoshikawa Y, etal . Identification of NAD+-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase 3 gamma-like (IDH3GL) gene and its genetic polymorphisms . Gene . 323 . 141–8 . 2004 . 14659887 . 10.1016/j.gene.2003.09.014 .
• Ota T, Suzuki Y, Nishikawa T, etal . Complete sequencing and characterization of 21,243 full-length human cDNAs . Nat. Genet. . 36 . 1 . 40–5 . 2004 . 14702039 . 10.1038/ng1285 . free .
• Tsutsumi S, Kamata N, Vokes TJ, etal . The novel gene encoding a putative transmembrane protein is mutated in gnathodiaphyseal dysplasia (GDD) . Am. J. Hum. Genet. . 74 . 6 . 1255–61 . 2004 . 15124103 . 10.1086/421527 . 1182089 .
• Gerhard DS, Wagner L, Feingold EA, etal . The status, quality, and expansion of the NIH full-length cDNA project: the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) . Genome Res. . 14 . 10B . 2121–7 . 2004 . 15489334 . 10.1101/gr.2596504 . 528928 .
• Lim J, Hao T, Shaw C, etal . A protein-protein interaction network for human inherited ataxias and disorders of Purkinje cell degeneration . Cell . 125 . 4 . 801–14 . 2006 . 16713569 . 10.1016/j.cell.2006.03.032 . 13709685 . free .
• Truong T, Zhang X, Pathmanathan D, etal . Craniosynostosis-associated gene nell-1 is regulated by runx2 . J. Bone Miner. Res. . 22 . 1 . 7–18 . 2007 . 17042739 . 10.1359/jbmr.061012 . 24485075 . free .
• Jin Z, Mori Y, Yang J, etal . Hypermethylation of the nel-like 1 gene is a common and early event and is associated with poor prognosis in early-stage esophageal adenocarcinoma . Oncogene . 26 . 43 . 6332–40 . 2007 . 17452981 . 10.1038/sj.onc.1210461 . free .

Notes and References

1. Watanabe TK, Katagiri T, Suzuki M, Shimizu F, Fujiwara T, Kanemoto N, Nakamura Y, Hirai Y, Maekawa H, Takahashi E . Cloning and characterization of two novel human cDNAs (NELL1 and NELL2) encoding proteins with six EGF-like repeats . Genomics . 38 . 3 . 273–6 . Mar 1997 . 8975702 . 10.1006/geno.1996.0628 .
2. Web site: Entrez Gene: NELL1 NEL-like 1 (chicken).
3. Web site: Study reveals bone-building protein's impact on bone stem cells.