A brain-enriched secreting signal peptide, NELL2, has been suggested to play multiple roles in the development, survival, and activity of neurons in the mammal. NELL2 is an abundant glycoprotein containing an EGF-like domain in the neural tissues where it has multiple physiological functions by interacting with protein kinase C (PKC). There are two different splicing variant forms of NELL2 identified so far. One is secreted NELL2 (sNELL2) which is a neuron-specific variant and the other is cytosolic NELL2 (cNELL2) which is a non-secreted splicing variant of NELL2. NELL2 is strongly expressed in the brain of adults and fetuses but only weakly in the fetal kidney.
