About SCGN / Secretagogin:
Secretagogin is found in humans and is a protein that's encoded by the SCGN gene. It has numerous aliases, including the following: CALBL, DJ501N12.8, EF-hand calcium-binding protein, setagin, SECRET, and SEGN.
SCGN Structure
Secretagogin is a Hexa-EF-hand protein that is most commonly expressed in the pancreas, brain, and gastrointestinal tract. It presents a crystal structure with a SNAP-25 fragment that shows the SNAP-25 adopts a helical structure and binds to EF-hands 5 and 6 of SCGN. It possesses six EF-hand helix-loop-helix calcium-binding motifs. Originally, this protein was cloned from pancreatic B cells.
Secretagogin Function & Interactions
This is an encoded protein that is found in the cytoplasm and is secreted with calcium-binding properties. Calretinin and calbindin D-28K are both relatives of secretagogin. It is believed that this protein is involved in the potassium chloride-stimulated calcium flux, along with cell proliferation. Cell proliferation is the process in which a cell grows and starts dividing to produce daughter cells. In turn, this leads to a massive increase in cell number and is one of the fastest mechanisms for tissue growth.
It has also been discovered through various forms of research that secretagogin plays a crucial role in releasing stress hormones. The specific stress hormone in question is corticotropin-releasing hormone - CRH - which will then enable stress processes in the brain. Tests have been conducted on zebrafish that show that the interaction between SCGN and SNAP-25/SNAP-23 has been shown to be critical for neuronal growth and brain development in the fish.