Liu Katherine, Castillo Marianne D, Murthy Raghav G, Patel Nitixa, Rameshwar Pranela
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UMDNJ, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
Clin Chim Acta. 2007 Oct;385(1-2):28-34. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2007.07.008. Epub 2007 Jul 19.
Originally discovered in the 1930s, tachykinins have been a subject of renewed interest. Antagonists to the tachykinin receptors have shown potential in the treatment of a variety of maladies including neurodegenerative disorders, heart disease, pain perception and malignancies. Tachykinins have been the subject of intense studies due to their impact on hematopoiesis that has significant effects on endothelial tissue and vascular conditions. Hematopoiesis relies on a relatively small subset of bone marrow-resident hematopoietic stem cells. This review discusses the network developed by cytokines and the tachykinins to regulate hematopoiesis. An understanding of tachykinin effect on normal hematopoietic functions and their involvement in hematological disorders could lead to new treatments for bone marrow disorders such as fibrosis, leukemia and anemia.
