The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the L1 gene family of neural cell adhesion molecules. It is a neural recognition molecule that may be involved in signal transduction pathways. The deletion of one copy of this gene may be responsible for mental defects in patients with 3p- syndrome. This protein may also play a role in the growth of certain cancers. Alternate splicing results in both coding and non-coding variants. [provided by RefSeq, Nov 2011].