| Description: | Brevican is the most abundant chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan in the extracellular matrix of the adult brain. It is a member of the lectican family of aggregating extracellular matrix proteoglycans that bear chondroitin sulfate (CS) chains. It is highly expressed in the central nervous system and is thought to stabilize synapses and inhibit neural plasticity. Brevican is secreted from astrocytes and neurons as a 145 kD core protein that bears up to three, covalently-linked, CS chains. It is also is secreted as a 145 kD core protein without CS chains. When cleaved by extracellular glutamyl endopeptidases, the ADAMTSs, a 55 kD N-terminal fragment is formed that contains the unique C terminal epitope EAMESE. |
