Appropriate development of nervous system connectivity involves a variety of processes, including neuronal life-and-death decisions, differentiation, axon guidance and migration, and synaptogenesis. Although these activities likely require specialized signaling events, few substrates unique to these neurotrophic functions have been identified. Here we describe the cloning of ankyrin repeat-rich...

Biomaterials and neurotrophic factors represent promising guidance for neural repair. In this study, we combined poly-(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) conduits and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) to generate NT-3-loaded PLGA carriers in vitro. Bioactive NT-3 was released stably and constantly from PLGA conduits for up to 4 weeks. Neural stem cells (NSCs) and Schwann cells (SCs) were coseeded into an...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) are members of the neurotrophin family that normally play a role in the development and maintenance of the nervous system. However, neurotrophin dysregulation has been implicated in several neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, neuropathic pain, depression, a...

Activation of the transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) by neurotrophins is believed to regulate the survival, differentiation, and maturation of neurons in the CNS and PNS. Although phosphorylation of Ser133 is critical for the expression of CREB-regulated genes, the identity of neurotrophin-regulated Ser133 kinases has remained controversial. We show here that neur...

Nerve growth factor (NGF) and related neurotrophins influence neuronal survival and differentiation via interactions with the trk family of receptors. Recent studies have demonstrated that neurotrophins may also induce cell death via the p75 receptor. The importance and generality of neurotrophin-induced death in the brain have not been defined but may play a critical role during development an...

Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) secrete neurotrophic factors which may play an important therapeutic role in neural development, maintenance and repair. To test this hypothesis, DPSCs-conditioned medium (DPSCs-CM) was collected from 72 hours serum-free DPSCs cultures. The impact of DPSCs-derived on PC12 survival, growth, migration differentiation investigated. were treated with nerve growth fact...

Neurotrophins are a family of growth factors that are polypeptide in structure and are necessary for the development and maintenance of the vertebrate nervous system. The first member of this family, nerve growth factor (NGF) was discovered in 1952 by an Italian group of scientists led by Rita Levi-Montalcini. She received a Nobel Prize in 1987 for her team’s discovery. A few decades after the ...

Neurotrophins are a family of proteins that are important for neuronal development, neuronal survival and neuronal functions. Neurotrophins exert their role by binding to their receptors, the Trk family of receptor tyrosine kinases (TrkA, TrkB, and TrkC) and p75NTR, a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor superfamily. Binding of neurotrophins to receptors triggers a complex series ...

The author's names were wrongly given as Baj Gabriele and Tongiorgi Enrico. The correct names appear in the print and online versions of the article. We apologise for this mistake. Introduction The neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), is known to regulate a large spectrum of developmental processes of the nervous system, including cell survival, growth and differentiation (Cas...

       The cellular therapy and nerve tissue engineering will probably become a major therapeutic strategy for promoting axonal growth through injured area in central nervous system and peripheral nervous system in the coming years. The stem cell carrier scaffolds in nerve tissue engineering resulted in strong survival of cells and suitable differentiation into n...