About Visinin-Like Protein:
The visinin-like protein is a form of protein that is encoded in human beings by the VSNL1 gene. The most important and interesting feature to be aware of with this gene in particular is that it is a member of the visinin-recoverin subfamily of neuronal calcium sensor proteins. That’s important to remember when looking at the structure and function of the protein, as we will do so shortly, as it offers clues to how it works, why it is there and what sort of physiological function it might play.
Visinin-Like Protein Function
When looking at the function of the visinin-like protein, particularly in humans, we can find some interesting facts which are worth looking at in some detail. Probably most important is the way in which the encoded visinin-like protein is generally very strongly expressed in the granule cells of the cerebellum, which is a part of the lower brain.
There, it is known to associate with some of the membranes there in a calcium-dependent manner, and as a result it helps to modulate the intracellular signaling pathways of the central nervous system. It does this mostly by directly or even indirectly regulating the overall activity of adenylyl cyclase, either helping it or hindering it as necessary. It’s worth knowing too that alternatively spliced transcript variants have been observed, although their full-length nature is not absolutely certain as of yet.