NeuN

NeuN is a neuron specific nuclear protein that can participate in the normal development and function maintaining of the nervous system by regulating RNA splicing. NeuN is widely present in all mature nerve cells except for cerebellar Purkinje cells, olfactory bulb mitral cells, retinal photoreceptors, and other neurons with independent functions, so it has become a neuronal specific biomarker, mainly used in the diagnosis of central nervous system tumors such as central neurocytoma, ganglioglioma, and dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor, and it is often negative in ependymoma and oligodendroglioma, which makes it useful for assisting in identification. Meanwhile, NeuN has important reference significance in the differentiation of schwannoma (+), neurofibroma (+), and other tumors composed of spindle cells (-). NeuN expression has also been found in some epithelial neuroendocrine cancers (ENECs). In addition, some research suggested that NeuN can be expressed in the lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549, indicating that some primitive cancer cells have the potential for differentiation into neurons.