L1 family

Overview
The L1 family is a family of cell adhesion molecules that includes several different L1-like proteins, found in the nervous system and other tissues of many animal species. They are a found on radial glial cells and, as such, are important for neural cell migration during development.

The members of the L1-family in humans are called L1, CHL1 (close homolog of L1), Neurofascin and NrCAM (NgCAM related cell adhesion molecule).

The family is characterised by its ability to bind to a family of proteins called ankrins.

NrCAM and neurofascin both have class 1 PDZ domain binding motifs at their COOH termini. NrCAM can bind to SAP102 and other members of the MAGUK family.