The thymus-neuroendocrine axis: physiology, molecular biology, and therapeutic potential of the thymic peptide thymulin.
Thymulin is a thymic hormone exclusively produced by the thymic epithelial cells. It consists of a nonapeptide component coupled to the ion zinc, which confers biological activity to the molecule. After its discovery in the early 1970s, thymulin was characterized as a thymic hormone involved in several aspects of intrathymic and extrathymic T cell differentiation. Subsequently, it was demonstrated that thymulin production and secretion is strongly influenced by the neuroendocrine system. Conversely, a growing core of information, to be reviewed here, points to thymulin as a hypophysotropic peptide. In recent years, interest has arisen in the potential use of thymulin as a therapeutic agent. Thymulin was shown to possess anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties in the brain. Furthermore, an adenoviral vector harboring a synthetic gene for thymulin, stereotaxically injected in the rat brain, achieved a much longer expression than the adenovirally mediated expression in the brain of other genes, thus suggesting that an anti-inflammatory activity of thymulin prevents the immune system from destroying virus-transduced brain cells. Other studies suggest that thymulin gene therapy may also be a suitable therapeutic strategy to prevent some of the endocrine and metabolic alterations that typically appear in thymus-deficient animal models. The present article briefly reviews the literature on the physiology, molecular biology, and therapeutic potential of thymulin.
Reggiani
Paula C
PC
Institute for Biochemical Research, Faculty of Medicine, CONICET, National University of La Plata, La Plata, Argentina. preggiani@fcm.uncu.edu.ar
Morel
Gustavo R
GR
Cónsole
Gloria M
GM
Barbeito
Claudio G
CG
Rodriguez
Silvia S
SS
Brown
Oscar A
OA
Bellini
Maria Jose
MJ
Pléau
Jean-Marie
JM
Dardenne
Mireille
M
Goya
Rodolfo G
RG
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000502:physiology*; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013935:Thymic Factor, Circulating / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000378:metabolism*
D010455:Peptides; D013935:Thymic Factor, Circulating