MANF and neoplasm: MANF was originally discovered and named ARMET (arginine-rich, mutated in early-stage tumor) (Shridhar et al., 1996) but was subsequently renamed MANF when the protein was first successfully isolated from a mesencephalic astrocyte cell line, and its neurotrophic properties were reported using dopaminergic neuronal cultures (Petrova et al., 2003).