Chitinase 3 Like Protein 2 (CHI3L2)

YKL39; Chondrocyte protein 39

SPN	O371
HGNC	1933
PubMed	22211103
UniProt	Q15782

Human articular chondrocytes secrete several proteins involved in cartilage biogenesis. Hu et al. (1996) identified YKL39 as a protein in conditioned medium from human articular cartilage chondrocytes in primary culture that copurified with YKL40 (HC gp39).

The name 'YKL' refers to the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the protein. Hu et al. (1996) found that YKL39 is most closely related by sequence analysis to YKL40. Unlike YKL40, the YKL39 protein is not glycosylated; like YKL40, it is related to bacterial chitinases but does not have chitinase activity because it lacks the active site glutamate. The authors found the highest level of YKL39 mRNA expression in chondrocytes, followed by synoviocytes, lung, and heart. No YKL39 mRNA was detected in brain, spleen, pancreas, or liver.

Reference

"Isolation and sequence of a novel human chondrocyte protein related to mammalian members of the chitinase protein family."
J. Biol. Chem. 271:19415-19420(1996) [PubMed] [Europe PMC] [Abstract]

"Complete sequencing and characterization of 21,243 full-length human cDNAs."
Nat. Genet. 36:40-45(2004) [PubMed] [Europe PMC] [Abstract]

"The DNA sequence and biological annotation of human chromosome 1."
Nature 441:315-321(2006) [PubMed] [Europe PMC] [Abstract]

"The status, quality, and expansion of the NIH full-length cDNA project: the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC)."
Genome Res. 14:2121-2127(2004) [PubMed] [Europe PMC] [Abstract]

"Human YKL-39 is a pseudo-chitinase with retained chitooligosaccharide-binding properties."
Biochem. J. 446:149-157(2012) [PubMed] [Europe PMC] [Abstract]