Unravelling the role of Humanin

Trends Mol Med. 2004 Mar;10(3):102-5. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2004.01.001.

Abstract

Humanin (HN), a recently identified neuroprotective factor against Alzheimer's disease-related insults, has been reported to function as an anti cell-death factor through multiple mechanisms. One mechanism, revealed in a glioblastoma cell line, involves the apoptosis-inducing protein Bax. This, in addition to the fact that HN is produced in certain normal tissues, such as testis, implies a potential role of HN in oncogenesis. A second mechanism, in neuronal cells, is via a putative cell-surface receptor. It is through this mechanism that HN exhibits its neuroprotective activity.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease / metabolism*
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Apoptosis*
  • Brain Chemistry
  • Humans
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Neuroprotective Agents / metabolism
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Peptides / metabolism
  • Proteins / chemistry
  • Proteins / metabolism
  • Proteins / physiology*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Sequence Alignment
  • bcl-2-Associated X Protein

Substances

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • BAX protein, human
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • Neuroprotective Agents
  • Peptides
  • Proteins
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
  • bcl-2-Associated X Protein
  • humanin