Neurotrophins strongly affect visual system development and plasticity. However, the mode of delivery and targets of neurotrophin action are still under debate. For instance, cortical NT-4/5 (neurotrophin 4/5; Ntf4/5) was shown to rescue lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) neurons from monocular deprivation-induced atrophy suggesting a retrograde action on thalamic afferents. It is still unclear w...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS) with unknown etiology. It was recently suggested that autoimmunity, which had long been considered to be destructive in MS, might also play a protective role in the CNS of MS patients. Neurotrophins are polypeptides belonging to the neurotrophic factor family. While ...

Alveolar macrophages are known to express a variety of growth factors and neurotrophins. Fibroblast growth factor-1 (FGF-1) is abundantly present in the lung and has mitogenic and neurotrophic activities similarly to neurotrophins. In order to determine whether FGF-1 associates with neurotrophins in alveolar macrophages, we investigated the immunocytochemical colocalization of FGF-1 with neurot...

The neurotrophins brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and their receptors trkB and trkC, respectively, are expressed in the locus coeruleus (LC) and ventral tegmental area (VTA), brain regions known to be involved in opiate addiction. Previously, administration of exogenous neurotrophins has been shown to oppose effects of chronic morphine treatment on LC and VTA ...

Neurotrophins such as nerve growth factor (NGF) regulate neuronal survival during development and are neuroprotective in certain models of injury to both the peripheral and the central nervous system. Although many effects of neurotrophins involve long-term changes in gene expression, several recent reports have focused on rapid effects of neurotrophins that do not involve synthesis of new gene...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among young individuals worldwide. Understanding the pathophysiology of neurotrauma is crucial for the development of more effective therapeutic strategies. After the trauma occurs, immediate neurologic damage is produced by the traumatic forces; this primary injury triggers a secondary wave of biochemical cascades togethe...

Subcellular pathways and accumulation of internalized radiolabeled neurotrophins NGF, BDNF, and NT-3 were examined in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) of chick embryos by using quantitative electron microscopic autoradiography. All three neurotrophins accumulated in endosomes and multivesicular bodies. BDNF and NGF also concentrated at the plasma membrane, whereas NT-3 accumulated transiently in t...

Neurotrophins, including nerve growth factor (NGF), partially mediate many features of allergic airways disease including airway hyperresponsiveness. Diesel exhaust particulates (DEP) associated with the combustion of diesel fuel exacerbate many of these allergic airways responses in humans. We tested the hypothesis that DEP-induced enhancement of allergic airways disease in a murine model is d...

The protein family of mammalian neurotrophins, comprising nerve-growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 and -4/5 (NT-3, NT-4/5), supports the survival and the phenotype of neurons from the central as well as the peripheral nervous system (CNS, PNS). In addition, exogenous application of neurotrophins has recently been found to modulate synaptic transmission...