NEUROMEDIN U: A BIOACTIVE PEPTIDE AND ITS ROLE IN PANCREATIC CANCER
Ritika Singh*, Renuka Verma, Ruchi Bhattacharya, Ashish Netam, Jhakeshwar Prasad, Trilochan Satapathy
ABSTRACT
Neuromedin U (NmU) is a neuropeptide belonging to the neuromedin
family and is found in the brain of humans and other mammals. They
have number of diverse functions and a highly conserved neuropeptide
present in many species, existing as multiple isoforms. Neuromedin U
is exerting its biological response mediated via two receptors,
peripheral NmUR1 and central nervous system NmUR2. Both
receptors are examples of Class A G-protein coupled receptors (or
GPCRs) with a distinct distributional pattern. The activation of NmU
receptors leads to intracellular signal transduction via calcium
mobilization, phosphoinositide (or PI) signaling, and the inhibition
of cAMP production. Several other peptide and non-peptide ligands are
also available for the NMU receptors for example Neuromedin S is
NmUR2 selective. The exact role of neuromedin- u in cancer is not yet
fully understood. The research output revealed that, theNmU and its receptor NMUR2 have
been shown to be over-expressed in human pancreatic cancers compared to normal cells.
Studies also showed NmU serum levels decreased after the tumors were removed, as NmU
and its receptor are localized predominantly in cancer cells. So in this article we have tried to
summarize the mechanism of over-expression of neuromedin U receptors in pancreatic
cancer via different signal transduction mechanism.
Keywords: Neuromedin U, Pancreatic cancer, G-protein coupled receptors, Signal transduction.
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