We recently identified a homeostatic pathway that inhibits ethanol intake. This protective pathway consists of the scaffolding protein RACK1 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). RACK1 translocates to the nucleus after exposure of neurons to ethanol and increases expression of BDNF (McGough et al., 2004). We also found that increasing the levels of BDNF via systemic administration of RA...

OBJECTIVES Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays important roles in neuronal survival and differentiation; however, the effects of BDNF on mood disorders remain unclear. We investigated BDNF from the perspective of various aspects of systems biology, including its molecular evolution, genomic studies, protein functions, and pathway analysis. METHODS We conducted analyses examining se...

Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) increases the levels of somatostatin (SS) and its mRNA. To test the hypothesis that the regulation of SS synthesis by BDNF occurs at the transcriptional level and requires specific promoter sequences, cerebrocortical and PC12trkB neurons were transiently transfected with different constructs of the SS promoter fused to the luciferase and CAT reporter gen...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is widely expressed in the central nervous system, where its function is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of BDNF on the differentiation of hippocampal nonpyramidal neurons using organotypic slice cultures prepared from postnatal rats. The application of BDNF induced an increase in immunostaining for the microtubule...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is known to modulate synapse development and plasticity, but the source of synaptic BDNF and molecular mechanisms regulating BDNF release remain unclear. Using exogenous BDNF tagged with quantum dots (BDNF-QDs), we found that endocytosed BDNF-QDs were preferentially localized to postsynaptic sites in the dendrite of cultured hippocampal neurons. Repetiti...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) decreases food intake and body weight, but few central sites of action have been identified. The hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is important in energy metabolism regulation, and expresses both BDNF and its receptor. We tested three hypotheses: 1) PVN BDNF reduces feeding and increases energy expenditure (EE), 2) PVN BDNF-enhanced thermogenesi...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a pivotal role in brain development and synaptic plasticity. It is synthesized as a precursor (pro-BDNF), sorted into the secretory pathway, transported along dendrites and axons, and released in an activity-dependent manner. Mutant Huntingtin with expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) and the V66M polymorphism of BDNF reduce the dendritic distribution an...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a member of the nerve growth factor family of neurotrophins and plays a vital role in synaptic plasticity. This study investigated the involvement of the amygdaloid BDNF system in molecular mechanisms underlying anxiety and alcohol-drinking behaviors. Male Sprague Dawley rats were cannulated targeting central amygdala (CeA), medial amygdala (MeA), or ...

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may predict markers of neurocognitive performance (i.e., executive function; EF) and brain health/plasticity brain-derived neurotrophic factor; BDNF). This pilot examined: (1) ACES history current EF performance, (2) ACEs BDNF levels, (3) levels. We hypothesized that higher would be associated with lower scores these patterns serum Given the nature study, em...

Introduction Psychotherapy is a treatment of proven efficacy in bipolar disorder (BD), but little known about the molecular and cellular mechanisms that it produces brain. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) thought to be important neuroplasticity could increased by psychopharmaceuticals psychotherapy BD patients, evidence literature limited. Objectives To analyze scientific studies relate...