First article, not so sure. Second one, that's WashU in St. Louis. Same place as Fumi, one of the best universities in the world. From the kidney department.
Mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF), a newly identified 18 kDa soluble protein, localizes to the luminal endoplasmic reticulum (ER). ER stress can stimulate MANF expression and secretion. In Drosophila and zebrafish, MANF regulates dopaminergic neuron development. In contrast, in mice, MANF deficiency leads to diabetes and activation of the unfolded protein response. Recent studies in rodent models have demonstrated that MANF mitigates diabetes, exerts neurotrophic function in neurodegenerative disease, protects cardiomyocytes and neurons in myocardial infarction and cerebral ischemia, respectively, and promotes immune cell phenotype switch from proinflammatory macrophages to prorepair anti-inflammatory macrophages. The cytoprotective mechanisms of MANF upon ER stress are currently under active investigation. In addition, for the first time we have discovered that MANF can potentially serve as a urinary ER stress biomarker in ER stress-mediated kidney disease. These studies have underscored the diagnostic and therapeutic importance of MANF in ER diseases.