Identification of active regions for neurite outgrowth activity of neurocrescin

We previously identified and cloned a neurite outgrowth promoting protein, Neurocrescin (NC), from the extract of the chick denervated leg muscles. In this study, we explored the active region of NC for neurite outgrowth. Using the deletion mutants of NC, we tested their neurite outgrowth activity in the cultured telencephalic neurons of E5 chick embryos. We found three regions which independently had significant neurite outgrowth activity comparable with that of the extract of the chick denervated leg muscles. These regions were not homologous to any well-known active sites such as the laminin active region, IKVAV. In parallel, searching the endogenous deletion mutants of NC in the rat brain, we cloned a mutant in which the region including the larger part of one of the three active regions was deleted. The neurite outgrowth activity of the mutant was significantly lower than that of normal NC. These results suggest the physiological significance of these active regions.