Thymosin Alpha‐1 Provides Direct Neuroprotection by Engaging the Orexin Receptor HCRTR1 to Suppress Neuronal Necroptosis
Xinmei Kang, Shisi Wang, Liubin Zhang, Mengyan Hu, Xiaotao Su, Yuxin Liu, Qin Qin, Haotong Yi, Liling Yuan, Wei Cai, Lei Wei, Zhengqi Lu · 2026
Read Thymosin Alpha‐1 Provides Direct Neuroprotection by Engaging the Orexin Receptor HCRTR1 to Suppress Neuronal Necroptosis by Xinmei Kang, Shisi Wang, Liubin Zhang, Mengyan Hu, Xiaotao Su, Yuxin Liu, Qin Qin, Haotong Yi, Liling Yuan, Wei Cai, Lei Wei, Zhengqi Lu (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13542392.txt.
Description
Xinmei Kang and eleven co-authors discovered that an immune peptide best known for rallying T cells also protects brain cells directly. The peptide, thymosin alpha-1, comes from the thymus gland. The team found it latching onto a brain receptor for orexin, a wakefulness signal, on the surface of neurons. That contact switches off a cell-death program called necroptosis by restraining its executioner enzyme.
In stroke patients and mice, blood levels of the peptide dropped, and the drop tracked how severe the stroke was. Mice lacking the peptide's gene suffered worse strokes. Giving the peptide after a stroke protected the brain and improved recovery. The authors propose it as a two-way therapy: shielding neurons directly while also calming the immune side of the injury.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Xinmei Kang, Shisi Wang, Liubin Zhang, Mengyan Hu, Xiaotao Su, Yuxin Liu, Qin Qin, Haotong Yi, Liling Yuan, Wei Cai, Lei Wei, Zhengqi Lu |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 38 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |