title: Carnosine activates the CREB pathway in Caco-2 cells.
abstract: Imidazole dipeptide, carnosine, is a versatile compound composed of β-Ala and L-His. A recent study showed that carnosine might benefit the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and the maintenance of cognitive function. Based on the observation that carnosine is immediately degraded by serum carnosinase, we hypothesized that carnosine improves brain function by promoting brain-gut interaction. This study sought to present possible mechanisms regulating carnosine-induced activation of brain-gut interaction. We had previously found that carnosine augmented the expression of BDNF in human colorectal cancer cells, thus we became interested in cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB), which is a dominant regulator of BDNF transcription. We found that carnosine activates CREB and CREB-related pathways by activating Ca2+-related pathways. Our findings suggest that carnosine augments the expression of CREB-regulated genes in the intestine; this augmentation contributes to the carnosine-induced activation of brain-gut interaction.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan. kfujii@grt.kyushu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Kayoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.affiliation: R&D Center, NH Foods, Ltd., 3-3 Midorigahara, Tsukuba, 300-2646, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Keishi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kadooka
authors.affiliation: R&D Center, NH Foods, Ltd., 3-3 Midorigahara, Tsukuba, 300-2646, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan.|Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Katakura
keywords: BDNF; Brain-gut interaction; CREB pathway; Ca2+ regulation; Carnosine