Brevican is the most abundant chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan in the extracellular matrix of the adult
brain. It is a member of the lectican family of
aggregating extracellular matrix proteoglycans that bear
chondroitin sulfate (CS) chains. It is highly expressed in
the central nervous system and is thought to stabilize
synapses and inhibit neural plasticity. Brevican is
secreted from astrocytes and neurons as a 145 kD core
protein that bears up to three, covalently-linked, CS
chains. It is also is secreted as a 145 kD core protein
without CS chains. When cleaved by extracellular
glutamyl endopeptidases, the ADAMTSs, a 55 kD N-terminal fragment is formed that contains the unique C terminal epitope EAMESE.