Neuronal cell adhesion molecule is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NRCAMgene.[5][6]
Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are members of the immunoglobulin superfamily. This gene encodes a neuronal cell adhesion molecule with multiple immunoglobulin-like C2-type domains and fibronectin type-III domains. This ankyrin-binding protein is involved in neuron-neuron adhesion and promotes directional signaling during axonal cone growth. This gene is also expressed in non-neural tissues and may play a general role in cell-cell communication via signaling from its intracellular domain to the actin cytoskeleton during directional cell migration. Allelic variants of this gene have been associated with autism[7] and addiction vulnerability. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms.[6]
^"Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^"Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^Lane RP, Chen XN, Yamakawa K, Vielmetter J, Korenberg JR, Dreyer WJ (Dec 1996). "Characterization of a highly conserved human homolog to the chicken neural cell surface protein Bravo/Nr-CAM that maps to chromosome band 7q31". Genomics. 35 (3): 456–65. doi:10.1006/geno.1996.0385. PMID8812479.