title: Renalase: its role as a cytokine, and an update on its association with type 1 diabetes and ischemic stroke.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Remarkable progress has been achieved over the past 2 years in understanding the cellular actions of renalase, its pathophysiology and potential therapeutic utility.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There has been a paradigm shift in our thinking about the mechanisms underlying the cellular actions of renalase. We now understand that, independent of its enzymatic properties, renalase functions as a signaling molecule, a cytokine that interacts with a yet-to-be identified plasma membrane receptor(s) to activate protein kinase B and the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. These signaling properties are critical to its cytoprotective effects. New information regarding renalase's enzymatic function as an α-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide oxidase/anomerase will be reviewed. Lastly, we will discuss the association of certain single nucleotide polymorphisms in the renalase gene with type 1 diabetes and with ischemic stroke, and the clinical implications of these findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The consistent association of renalase single nucleotide polymorphisms and the development of type 1 diabetes is a great interest particularly because we now understand that renalase functions as a cytokine. Future work on renalase should focus on exploring the identity of its receptor(s), and its potential role as an immune modulator.
authors.affiliation: aDepartment of Medicine, VACHS, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA bRenal Division, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Heino
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Velazquez
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Safirstein
authors.forename: Gary V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Desir
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D015398:Signal Transduction; D020521:Stroke / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase; C521557:renalase; D004298:Dopamine