A comprehensive review reveals that tachykinin peptides — best known for pain and inflammation signaling — also play newly discovered roles in blood cell formation, puberty onset, blood clotting disorders, and neurological diseases.
80+ years of researchSince substance P's discovery, tachykinin peptides continue to reveal new biological roles beyond their classical pain and inflammation functions
What the researchers found
The review highlights several novel roles for tachykinin peptides discovered in the preceding five years:
1. Neurokinin B (NKB) signaling in the hypothalamus plays a crucial role in regulating gonadotropin hormone secretion and puberty onset — mutations in NKB or its receptor cause failure to enter puberty.
2. Tachykinins have newly identified roles in hematopoiesis (blood cell formation) and venous thromboembolism (blood clotting in veins).
3. Molecular studies revealed prophylactic activities of tachykinins against neurogenic movement disorders based on their molecular structure.
4. Novel connections between substance P and tendinopathy (tendon disease) and taste perception have been clarified.
Why it matters
Tachykinin peptides are found throughout the body and influence a wide range of biological processes. Understanding their newly discovered roles could lead to new therapeutic targets for conditions ranging from infertility and delayed puberty to blood disorders and neurological diseases. Drug developers have already targeted tachykinin receptors for pain management, and these new roles expand the potential applications considerably.
How the study worked
This is a narrative review article summarizing research on tachykinin peptides published worldwide in the approximately 5 years preceding the review (roughly 2009-2014). It covers studies on nociception, inflammation, hematopoiesis, gonadotropin secretion, and central nervous system diseases.
What this study cannot tell us
As a narrative review rather than a systematic review, the selection of studies may reflect author bias. The review primarily covers a 5-year window, so earlier foundational work receives less attention. Some of the novel roles described (e.g., in hematopoiesis and thromboembolism) were relatively early findings at the time and may not have been fully validated by subsequent research.
How to read the evidence
This is a narrative review article synthesizing findings from multiple primary studies. While it provides a valuable overview, it does not present new primary data and the study selection was not systematic.
When this study was published
Published in 2014, this review covers research through approximately 2013. Some of the novel findings described may have been further validated or refined by subsequent studies over the past decade.
The bigger picture
Tachykinins represent one of the oldest known peptide families in neuroscience, yet researchers continue to discover new functions decades later. This pattern — where well-studied molecules turn out to have broader roles than initially appreciated — is common in peptide biology and underscores why continued investigation of even 'well-understood' peptides can yield therapeutic breakthroughs.
Questions still open
- Can tachykinin receptor-targeting drugs be developed specifically for the newly discovered roles in blood formation and puberty regulation?
- How do the different tachykinin peptides coordinate their overlapping and distinct functions across the peripheral and central nervous systems?
- Have the novel prophylactic activities against neurogenic movement disorders been confirmed in subsequent clinical studies?
Common questions
What are tachykinin peptides and what do they do in the body?
How are tachykinins related to puberty?
Read the original research
Tachykinin: recent developments and novel roles in health and disease.
Biomolecular concepts, 5(3), 225-43
Citation
Onaga, Takenori. (2014). Tachykinin: recent developments and novel roles in health and disease.. Biomolecular concepts, 5(3), 225-43. https://doi.org/10.1515/bmc-2014-0008