Neurogenesis continues in the adult forebrain subventricular zone (SVZ) and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampal formation. Degeneration of dopaminergic projections in Parkinson's disease and animals reduces, whereas ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) promotes, neurogenesis. We tested whether the dopaminergic system promotes neurogenesis through CNTF. Astrocytes of the SVZ and dentate gyrus exp...

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is a potent survival molecule for a variety of embryonic neurons in culture. The developmental expression of CNTF occurs clearly after the time period of the physiological cell death of CNTF-responsive neurons. This, together with the sites of expression, excludes CNTF as a target-derived neuronal survival factor, at least in rodents. However, CNTF also partic...

The neurocytokine ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) was described originally as an activity that supports the survival of neurons of the chicken ciliary ganglia in vitro. The widespread expression of CNTF and its principal binding protein, CNTF receptor alpha, in the central and peripheral nervous systems suggests a broader trophic role for this peptide. In the present study, we report that CN...

In the mouse hypothalamus, ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is mainly expressed by ependymal cells and tanycytes of the ependymal layer covering the third ventricle. Since exogenously administered CNTF causes reduced food intake and weight loss, we tested whether endogenous CNTF might be involved in energy balance regulation. We thus evaluated CNTF production and responsiveness in the hypotha...

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) has been implicated in the development, survival, and maintenance of a broad range of neurons and glia in the peripheral nervous system and the CNS. Evidence also suggests that CNTF may affect development of cells outside the nervous system. We have found that functional CNTF and its receptor are expressed in developing embryonic chick heart and may be involve...

Abstract The design of the efficient, flexible air electrode for enhancing Zn‐air batteries (ZABs) performance is vital in developing a new portable rechargeable power supply. Emerging research indicates that non‐precious metal materials have promising activity oxygen reduction/evolution alkaline conditions while constructing high‐performance and reliable still big challenge at present stage. I...

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) potently reduces appetite and body weight in rodents and humans. We studied the short- and long-term effects of CNTF(Ax15), a second-generation CNTF analog, in diet-induced obese C57BL/6J mice and brown adipose tissue (BAT)-deficient obese UCP1-DTA (uncoupling protein 1-diphtheria toxin A) mice. CNTF(Ax15) administration (0.1, 0.3, or 1.0 microg . g(-1) . day(...

In order to study the role of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and its receptor (CNTF-R) in the response of spinal cord neurons to axotomy, we measured the levels of CNTF mRNA in nerve and CNTF-R mRNA in spinal cord following transection of sciatic nerve, using reverse transcriptase PCR. We found CNTF mRNA levels in the nerve fell and that CNTF-R mRNA levels in spinal cord increased at both 1...

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) acts as a potent neuroprotective agent in multiple retinal degeneration animal models. Recently, CNTF has been evaluated in clinical trials for the inherited degenerative disease retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Despite its potential as a broad-spectrum therapeutic treatment for blinding diseases, the target cells o...