Open AccessNicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase in Human Diseases
Author(s) -
Li Qin Zhang,
Daniel P. Heruth,
Shui Qing Ye
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of bioanalysis and biomedicine
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1948-593X
DOI - 10.4172/1948-593x.1000038
Subject(s) - nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase , medicine , phosphoribosyltransferase , immunology , cancer research , bioinformatics , nad+ kinase , biology , enzyme , biochemistry , hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase , gene , mutant
Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) was first reported as a pre-B-cell colony enhancing factor in 1994 with little notice, but it has received increasing attention in recent years due to accumulating evidence indicating that NAMPT is a pleiotropic protein such as a growth factor, a cytokine, an enzyme and a visfatin. Now, NAMPT has been accepted as an official name of this protein. Because of NAMPT's multiple functions in a variety of physiological processes, their dysregulations have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of human diseases or conditions such as acute lung injury, aging, atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and sepsis. This review will cover the current understanding of NAMPT's structure and functions with an emphasis on recent progress of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase's pathological roles in various human diseases and conditions. Future directions on exploring its Terra incognita will be offered in the end.