protein_function: Cell surface proteoglycan that may bear heparan sulfate(By similarity). May have a role in the organization of cell shapeby affecting the actin cytoskeleton, possibly by transferringsignals from the cell surface in a sugar-dependent mechanism..
Syndecan-3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SDC3 gene. The protein encoded by this gene belongs to the syndecan proteoglycan family, which was assigned to human chromosome 1p35.2, and it showed that in the mouse the Synd3 gene maps to chromosome 4 near the Lmyc gene. The transfection of SDC3 resulted in the formation of long filopodia-like structures, microspikes, and varicosities in several cell lines. Besides, the gene plays a role in the organization of cell shape by affecting the actin cytoskeleton, possibly by transferring signals from the cell surface in a sugar-dependent mechanism. Allelic variants of this gene have been associated with obesity.
