Clusterin is a secreted mammalian chaperone

[Extract] By any criteria, clusterin is an interesting protein. It was first described in 1983 as a secreted glycoprotein in ram rete testis fluid that enhanced aggregation (“clustering”) of a variety of cells in vitro 1. Many homologues in other species were subsequently discovered. Typically, each “discovery” of clusterin in a different species or by a different research group led to it being assigned another name. By the early 1990s clusterin was known under many aliases 2, some of which persist in the literature. However, the inaugural international workshop on clusterin (Cambridge, 1992) agreed to the name clusterin, in deference to the original reports of the protein’s properties.