From neurotrophins to immunotrophins

The series of international conferences on nerve growth factor (NGF) and related molecules arose from a meeting held in 1986, to mark Rita Levi-Montalcini’s 77th birthday, and in recognition of the fact that her discovery of NGF opened up the field of trophic factors. One of the best characterized families of such trophic factors is the NGF family of neurotrophins, which in mammals also includes BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor), NT3 (neurotrophin 3) and NT4 (neurotrophin 4). The meeting has since become a biennial event held in alternating years with the Gordon Conference on neurotrophic factors. This year’s meeting, the seventh in the series, was held in the lovely Italian town of Modena and was honored once again by the presence of the Nobel laureate. In accordance with Levi-Montalcini’s views on expanding roles for neurotrophins outside the nervous system, the organizers prepared a wide-ranging program encompassing neuronal, non-neuronal and clinical aspects of NGF research. Presentations included some quite striking research topics, such as the effects of increased gravity on tissue levels of neurotrophins (D. Santucci, Rome, Italy), as well as more conventional studies on different aspects of neurotrophic factor biology. In this short report we focus on molecular and mechanistic advances presented at the meeting. We apologize to the many speakers and poster presenters whose data could not be highlighted due to space constraints. For a more thorough discussion of the neurotrophins and their actions, readers are referred to more comprehensive reviews (Bibel and Barde, 2000; Huang and Reichardt, 2001).