Cysteine Conjugate Beta Lyase 2 (CCbL2)

Kynurenic acid (KYNA), a metabolite of tryptophan, is a broad-spectrum antagonist of excitatory amino acid receptors, suggesting it may participate in normal brain function as a modulator of glutamatergic neurotransmission. The level of KYNA is altered in several neurodegenerative diseases. KAT3 is a kynurenine aminotransferase that forms KYNA by transamination of kynurenine. CCBL2 is an aminotransferase that transaminates kynurenine to form kynurenic acid. Kynurenic acid is a metabolite of tryptophan. Multiple alternatively spliced transcript variants that encode different proteins have been described for this gene. This gene shares 5' exon structure with the RNA binding motif protein, X-linked-like 1 locus on chromosome 1, but the coding sequences are non-overlapping.