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10 sources retrieved · Most recent: April 2026 · Index updated 14 days ago
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NRG3
neuregulin 3
Chromosome 10 · 10q23.1
NCBI Gene: 10718Ensembl: ENSG00000185737.13HGNC: HGNC:7999UniProt: B3KVG8
52PubMed Papers
20Diseases
0Drugs
0Pathogenic Variants
DATA QUALITY
✓ Experimental GO Evidence✓ Swiss-Prot Reviewed
glutamatergic synapsereceptor ligand activityGO:0005615modulation of chemical synaptic transmissioncancerneurodegenerative diseaseHirschsprung diseaserespiratory tract infectious disorder
✦AI Summary

NRG3 is a brain-enriched neuregulin that functions as a direct ligand for the ERBB4 tyrosine kinase receptor 1. Upon binding, NRG3 stimulates ligand-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of ERBB4, initiating intracellular signaling cascades 2. The gene undergoes complex alternative splicing producing multiple isoforms (classes I-IV) with distinct temporal and tissue-specific expression patterns during human neocortical development and aging 3. NRG3 plays critical roles in early mammary morphogenesis and neural development 1. NRG3 signaling is implicated in multiple neurological and psychiatric disorders. Genetic variants in NRG3 associate with schizophrenia risk, with polymorphism rs10748842 predicting elevated expression of developmentally regulated isoforms in the prefrontal cortex 2. Additionally, NRG3 variants correlate with Alzheimer disease risk and age of onset 4, and increased expression of specific isoforms appears in bipolar disorder and major depression 3. In schizophrenia, NRG3 rs10748842 associates with cognitive deficits, particularly attention impairment 5. The NRG3-ERBB4 signaling pathway participates in epilepsy pathogenesis 6. Mechanistically, mature NRG3 undergoes transcytosis into axons via BACE1-dependent cleavage and accumulates at presynaptic terminals through trans-synaptic retention via postsynaptic ERBB4 7.

Sources cited
1
NRG3 is a ligand for ERBB4 receptor tyrosine kinase and promotes early mammary morphogenesis
PMID: 18418701
2
NRG3 polymorphism rs10748842 associates with schizophrenia risk and predicts expression of developmentally regulated isoforms in human brain prefrontal cortex
PMID: 20713722
3
NRG3 undergoes alternative splicing producing isoforms I-IV with distinct temporal expression patterns; increased NRG3 classes I, II, III found in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression
PMID: 27771971
4
NRG3 gene polymorphisms associate with Alzheimer disease risk and age at onset
PMID: 24061483
5
NRG3 rs10748842 associates with cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, particularly attention performance
PMID: 31753594
6
NRG3-ERBB4 signaling pathway participates in epilepsy pathogenesis based on astrocyte cell-cell communications
PMID: 37189441
7
Mature NRG3 is generated by BACE1 cleavage, transported into axons via transcytosis on Rab4+ vesicles, and accumulates at presynaptic terminals through trans-synaptic retention via postsynaptic ErbB4
PMID: 35579602
Disease Associationsⓘ20
cancerOpen Targets
0.58Moderate
neurodegenerative diseaseOpen Targets
0.37Weak
Hirschsprung diseaseOpen Targets
0.35Weak
respiratory tract infectious disorderOpen Targets
0.34Weak
jaw diseaseOpen Targets
0.32Weak
systemic lupus erythematosusOpen Targets
0.32Weak
Aganglionic megacolonOpen Targets
0.31Weak
smoking initiationOpen Targets
0.30Weak
gastrointestinal diseaseOpen Targets
0.29Weak
multiple myelomaOpen Targets
0.28Weak
chronic pancreatitisOpen Targets
0.28Weak
HypercholesterolemiaOpen Targets
0.28Weak
thrombophiliaOpen Targets
0.28Weak
adolescent idiopathic scoliosisOpen Targets
0.28Weak
venous thromboembolismOpen Targets
0.27Weak
male reproductive organ cancerOpen Targets
0.27Weak
thyroid cancerOpen Targets
0.27Weak
skin agingOpen Targets
0.26Weak
cardiac transplantOpen Targets
0.25Weak
sprainOpen Targets
0.25Weak
Pathogenic Variants
No pathogenic variants reported on ClinVar for this gene.
View on ClinVar ↗
Related Genes
EGFRProtein interaction100%EGFProtein interaction96%ERBB2Protein interaction86%CADPS2Protein interaction81%AUTS2Protein interaction79%NRG4Protein interaction74%
Tissue Expression6 tissues
Brain
100%
Liver
5%
Lung
5%
Bone Marrow
1%
Heart
1%
Ovary
0%
Gene Interaction Network
Click a node to explore
NRG3EGFREGFERBB2CADPS2AUTS2NRG4
PROTEIN STRUCTURE
Preparing viewer…
AlphaFoldAI-predicted · UniProt P56975
View on AlphaFold ↗
Constraintⓘ
LOEUFⓘ
0.64LoF Tolerant
pLIⓘ
0.00Tolerant
Observed/Expected LoF0.47 [0.35–0.64]
RankingsWhere NRG3 stands among ~20K protein-coding genes
  • #8,592of 20,598
    Most Researched52
  • #4,527of 17,882
    Most Constrained (LOEUF)0.64
Genes detectedNRG3
Sources retrieved10 papers
Response time—
📄 Sources
10▼
1
Large-Scale Integration of Single-Cell RNA-Seq Data Reveals Astrocyte Diversity and Transcriptomic Modules across Six Central Nervous System Disorders.
PMID: 37189441
Biomolecules · 2023
1.00
2
NRG3 gene is associated with the risk and age at onset of Alzheimer disease.
PMID: 24061483
J Neural Transm (Vienna) · 2014
0.90
3
Association of NRG3 and ERBB4 gene polymorphism with nicotine dependence in Turkish population.
PMID: 34247340
Mol Biol Rep · 2021
0.80
4
Temporal, Diagnostic, and Tissue-Specific Regulation of NRG3 Isoform Expression in Human Brain Development and Affective Disorders.
PMID: 27771971
Am J Psychiatry · 2017
0.70
5
The role of NRG3 in mammary development.
PMID: 18418701
J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia · 2008
0.60