cortistatin (neuropeptide) cortistatin (neuropeptide) precortistatin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the cort gene. the 105 amino acid residue human precortistatin in turn is cleaved into cortistatin-17 and cortistatin-29. cortistatin-17 is the only active peptide derived from the precursor. cortistatin (or more specifically cortistatin-17) is a neuropeptide that is expressed in inhibitory neurons of the cerebral cortex, and which has a strong structural similarity to somatostatin. unlike somatostatin, when infused into the brain, it enhances slow-wave sleep. it binds to sites in the cortex, hippocampus and the amygdala. cortidentifiersaliasescort, cst-14, cst-17, cst-29, cortistatin, sst2external idsomim: 602784 mgi: 109538 homologene: 997 genecards: cort gene location (human)chr.chromosome 1 (human)band1p36.22start10,450,031 bpend10,451,998 bpgene location (mouse)chr.chromosome 4 (mouse)band4 e2|4 78.89 cmstart149,209,491 bpend149,211,220 bprna expression patternbgeehumanmouse (ortholog)top expressed inputamencaudate nucleusprefrontal cortexnucleus accumbenssuperior frontal gyrustemporal lobeamygdalabrodmann area 9hippocampus properhypothalamustop expressed insuperior frontal gyrushippocampus properolfactory bulbentorhinal cortexyolk saccerebellar cortexadrenal glandsecondary oocytebone marrowamygdalamore reference expression databiogpsn/agene ontologymolecular function neuropeptide hormone activity g protein-coupled receptor binding hormone activity chromatin binding double-stranded dna binding cellular component extracellular region fanconi anaemia nuclear complex fancm-mhf complex extracellular space biological process adenylate cyclase-inhibiting g protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway chemical synaptic transmission mitotic recombination resolution of meiotic recombination intermediates interstrand cross-link repair replication fork processing regulation of signaling receptor activity g protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway sources:amigo / quickgoorthologsspecieshumanmouseentrez132512854ensemblensg00000241563ensmusg00000028971uniproto00230p56469refseq (mrna)nm_001302nm_007745refseq (protein)np_001293np_031771location (ucsc)chr 1: 10.45 – 10.45 mbchr 4: 149.21 – 149.21 mbpubmed searchwikidataview/edit humanview/edit mouse function cortistatin is a neuropeptide with strong structural similarity to somatostatin (both peptides belong to the same family). it binds to all known somatostatin receptors, and shares many pharmacological and functional properties with somatostatin, including the depression of neuronal activity. however, it also has many properties distinct from somatostatin, such as induction of slow-wave sleep, apparently by antagonism of the excitatory effects of acetylcholine on the cortex, reduction of locomotor activity, and activation of cation selective currents not responsive to somatostatin.