lon-2 encodes a member of the glypican family of heparan sulfate proteoglycans; during development, lon-2 activity is required in the hypodermis for negative regulation of the DBL-1/BMP signaling pathway that regulates body length; genetic analyses indicate that lon-2 functions upstream of dbl-1, and in vitro studies show that LON-2 can bind mammalian BMP2, suggesting that LON-2 may directly interact with DBL-1 to negatively regulate DBL-1/BMP signaling; in addition to expression in hypodermis, LON-2 is expressed strongly in the intestine, particularly the anterior and posterior cells; LON-2 localizes to the cell surface.
Enables growth factor binding activity. Involved in several processes, including negative regulation of transmembrane receptor protein serine/threonine kinase signaling pathway; regulation of cell migration; and regulation of mesodermal cell fate specification. Located in cell surface. Expressed in hypodermis and intestine.