Expressions of various neurotrophic factors or their receptors fluctuate after stroke, which in part prompted investigations into the efficacy of neurotrophic factors as treatment modality for stroke. The methods to deliver neurotrophic factors into the brain can be categorized into: 1) the surgical route of administration, such as intracerebral, intraventricular, intra-arterial, or intravenous...

Bcl-2, Bcl-x and Bax are members fo a family of cytoplasmic proteins that influence cell survival. Whereas increased expression of Bcl-2 or Bcl-x promotes cell survival following withdrawal of survival factors, increased expression of Bax is thought to suppress survival. To investigate the potential roles of these proteins in regulating the survival of developing neurons, we compared the effect...

Recent studies have indicated that the choice of lineage of neural progenitor cells is determined, at least in part, by environmental factors, such as neurotrophic factors. Despite extensive studies using exogenous neurotrophic factors, the effect of endogenous neurotrophic factors on the differentiation of progenitor cells remains obscure. Here we show that embryonic spinal cord derived-progen...

Developing neurons depend on neurotrophins supplied by the tissues they innervate. Before and after this period of target-dependent survival, brain-derived neurotrophic factor also has autocrine actions on some neurons.