Mini Review Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor

Nerve growth factor (NGF) was discovered in the early 1950s due to its trophic (survivaland growth-promoting) effects on sensory and sympathetic neurons (LeviMontalcini and Hamburger, 1951). In 1982, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), the second member of the “neurotrophin” family of neurotrophic factors, was shown to promote survival of a subpopulation of dorsal root ganglion neurons, and subsequently purified from pig brain (Barde et al., 1982). Since then, other members of the neurotrophin family such as neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) (Maisonpierre et al., 1990) and neurotrophin-4/5 (NT-4/5) (Hallbook et al., 1991; Ip et al., 1992) have been described, each with a distinct profile of trophic effects on subpopulations of neurons in the peripheral and central nervous systems.