Meteorin

Meteorin, named after meteor because this protein can transform glial cells into cells with an elongated tail, is a 30 kDa member of the Meteorin family. The secreted protein is also known as glial cell differentiation factor and hypoxia/reoxygenation regulatory factor. Mouse Meteorin is synthesized as a 291 amino acid (aa) precursor with a 21 aa signal sequence and a 270 aa mature chain. Splicing variants produce two isoforms. Mouse Meteorin is 81% aa identical to human Meteorin. Meteorin is expressed in the central nervous system both during development and in adult mice. Functionally, Meteorin plays important roles in both glial cell differentiation and axonal network formation during neurogenesis. In addition, research shows that when Meteorin is expressed and secreted by perivascular astrocytes, it up-regulates thrombospondin-1/-2 to attenuate angiogenesis in the surrounding endothelial cells and to promote vascular maturation.