Research advances on neurite outgrowth inhibitor B receptor.

Neurite outgrowth inhibitor-B (Nogo-B) is a membrane protein which is extensively expressed in multiple organs, especially in endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells of blood vessels and belongs to the reticulon protein family. Notably, its specific receptor, Nogo-B receptor (NgBR), encoded by NUS1, has been implicated in many crucial cellular processes, such as cholesterol trafficking, lipid metabolism, dolichol synthesis, protein N-glycosylation, vascular remodelling, angiogenesis, tumorigenesis and neurodevelopment. In recent years, accumulating studies have demonstrated the statistically significant changes of NgBR expression levels in human diseases, including Niemann-Pick type C disease, fatty liver, congenital disorders of glycosylation, persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, invasive ductal breast carcinoma, malignant melanoma, non-small cell lung carcinoma, paediatric epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. Besides, both the in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that NgBR overexpression or knockdown contribute to the alteration of various pathophysiological processes. Thus, there is a broad development potential in therapeutic strategies by modifying the expression levels of NgBR.