Tags: Protein.
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.
