The lecticans are a family of chondroitin proteoglycans, including aggrecan, versican, neurocan and brevican, that contain a C-type lectin domain. Neurocan is a glycoprotein synthesized primarily by neurons, and its expression levels are highest during embryonic brain development and during the early postnatal period. Neurocan is a component of the extracellular matrix in the central nervous system that can bind to various other CNS matrix components, such as heparin, Tenascin-R, HB-GAM and NCAM, suggesting that it plays a role in axon guidance and neurite growth. Neurocan is a 1,257 amino acid, precursor protein in embryonic and neonatal rats that is proteolytically proc-essed in the adult CNS into an N-terminal fragment, which localizes to the cytoplasm of glial cells. Neurocan expression (including the re-expression of the neonatal isoform) increases significantly in adults in the glial scar resulting from cortical injury.