title: Humanin and the receptors for humanin.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a prevalent dementia-causing neurodegenerative disease. Neuronal death is closely linked to the progression of AD-associated dementia. Accumulating evidence has established that a 24-amino-acid bioactive peptide, Humanin, protects neurons from AD-related neuronal death. A series of studies using various murine AD models including familial AD gene-expressing transgenic mice have shown that Humanin is effective against AD-related neuronal dysfunction in vivo. Most recently, it has been shown that Humanin inhibits neuronal cell death and dysfunction by binding to a novel IL-6-receptor-related receptor(s) on the cell surface involving CNTFRalpha, WSX-1, and gp130. These findings suggest that endogenous Humanin [or a Humanin-like substance(s)] may suppress the onset of AD-related dementia by inhibiting both AD-related neuronal cell death and dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Tokyo Medical University, Shinjuku-ku, Japan. sakimatu@tokyo-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016923:Cell Death / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C427211:humanin