Applications and Possible Mechanisms of ULK4 in Brain: Implications for Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

Background: Neuropsychiatric disorders make up 14% of the global disease burden and are the leading cause of disability from noncommunicable diseases worldwide. The primary treatment for these disorders is drug therapy. Nonetheless, these therapies do not work completely for most patients, and even with attempts to create novel drugs, no medication has been confirmed as safe and effective for treating neuropsychiatric disorders. Recent studies have emphasized the role of gene therapy in neuropsychiatric disorders. Unc-51-like kinase (ULK) has connections to central nervous system functions and disorders, but the role of ULK4 is less well understood than other members of that family.

Methods: The PubMed database was searched for articles regarding ULK4 in neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodevelopment with no restriction on publication date.

Results: ULK4 is believed to function as a pseudokinase, potentially acting as a scaffold to connect kinases or other enzymes with their substrates or to manage the subcellular location of interacting proteins in different biological processes, abnormal low expression of which may increase the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Conclusions: This review updates the latest evidence on the roles of ULK4 in brain development and neuronal function, and highlights some controversies and uncertainties in the current research on ULK4. This review offers perspectives on the continuous development and design of drugs targeting ULK4, supporting possibilities for their future clinical application.