MLC1 is a 377 amino acid multi-pass membrane protein that may serve as a non-selective neuronal cation channel in brain. Mutant MLC1 proteins that show impaired folding have been corrected in vitro with the addition of a Ca(2+)-ATPase inhibitor, curcumin. Mutations in the gene encoding MLC1 is the cause of megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts, also known as van der Knaap disease, a rare syndrome characterized early in life by progressive brain destruction causing mental re