Dekan Summary BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) plays an important role in neuronal survival, growth and maintenance of several neuronal systems, serves as neurotransmitter modulator and participates in plasticity important for learning and memory. BDNF is widely expressed in the CNS, beginning early in development and extending throughout life. In the mammalian brain, it is most abundan...

BACKGROUND Agomelatine modulates brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression via its interaction with melatonergic and serotonergic receptors and has shown promising results in terms of brain-derived neurotrophic factor increase in animal models. METHODS Twenty-seven patients were started on agomelatine (25mg/d). Venous blood was collected and brain-derived neurotrophic factor serum levels w...

BACKGROUND Low circulating brain derived neurotrophic factor may promote cognitive deterioration, but the effects of neurotrophic and combination drug therapies on serum brain derived neurotrophic factor were not previously investigated in Alzheimer's disease. METHODS We evaluated the effects of Cerebrolysin, donepezil, and the combined therapy on brain derived neurotrophic factor serum level...

background: stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (shed) have the capability to differentiate into neural cells. neurotrophins including nerve growth factor (ngf), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (bdnf), neurotrophin-3 (nt-3), and neurotrophin-4 (nt-4) have neurogenesis, neurotrophic, or neuroprotective effects and are expressed in developing teeth. the aim of this study was to mea...

BDNF (Brain derived neurotrophic factor) is a secretion protein and a member of the neurotrophin family of growth factors. Structural and functional characterization of BDNF Varanus komodoensis is of interest while its structure remains unknown. Thus, a homology molecular model of BDNF was constructed for gleaning possible structural insights. The model was compared with the structure of the ho...

Some adults fail to adapt to chronic stress, developing symptoms of depression and anxiety. In this issue of Neuron, Uchida and colleagues link maladaptive stress responses to GDNF through a comprehensive investigation of the neurotrophic factor's regulation. Further, this study is an excellent example for investigators interested in neuroepigenetics research.

BDNF is a neurotrophic peptide that regulates synaptic plasticity. New work by Lu and coworkers in this issue of Neuron now identifies BDNF as a gatekeeper of synaptic and behavioral plasticity in cocaine sensitization. In the medial prefrontal cortex, upregulated BDNF facilitates LTP and contributes to neurobehavioral adaptations to psychostimulants.

Retina has long been considered less plastic than cortex or hippocampus, the very sites of experience-dependent plasticity. Now, we show that retinal development is responsive to the experience provided by an enriched environment (EE): the maturation of retinal acuity, which is a sensitive index of retinal circuitry development, is strongly accelerated in EE rats. This effect is present also in...