New Insights of Neuromedin B and its Receptor NMBR Involvement in Immunity

Neuromedin B (NMB) is a member of mammalian bombesin-like peptide family and almost all its potent biological actions take place exclusively through its receptor NMBR, which has been identified as a G-protein couple receptor with seven trans-membrane regions. NMB and NMBR represent an interesting signaling axis over which NMB/NMBR perform multiple biological activities, in particularly, they have been highlighted in the regulation of the immunology system. This review aims to provide a brief overview of the recent advancements in our understanding regarding the potential immunological functions of NMB and NMBR in cell proliferation, tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, neurogenic inflammation, anti-influenza A virus (IAV) infections, and briefly discusses the potential importance of these observations. All these implicated that targeting NMBR or developing analogues of NMB may represent a useful strategy for development of new anti-IAV agents.