The glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has been proven to be the most powerful neurotrophic factor in neuronal development. However, it remains uncertain as to which intracellular signaling pathway interacting with GDNF is invovlved in motoneuron (MN) development. In this study, we investigated whether phosphoinositide phospholipase C-γ (PLC-γ) is involved in GDNF-promoted MN de...

1 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 4 1. Parkinson's disease and its treatment 4 1.1 Drug development: from animal models to clinical trials 7 1.2 Available PD treatments 10 1.3 Towards neurotrophic and neurorestorative therapies 11 2. GDNF family ligands (GFLs): structure, signalling and function 13 2.1 Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) 14 2.2 Neurturin (NRTN) 16 2.3 A...

Cattle encephalon glycoside and ignotin injection offers neural protection after cerebral apoplexy clinically, but the exact mechanism of the protective effect is unclear. We performed primary culture of neurons and astrocytes and simulated ischemic brain damage using AAPH and discussed the action mechanism of cattle encephalon glycoside and ignotin injection. Results showed that cattle encepha...

Inflammation, phospho-p38 MAPK activation, and a reduction in glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) occur in Parkinson's disease. Microglial activation in the substantia nigra and a tyrosine hydroxylase deficit in the striatum of 3-month-old GDNF heterozygous (GDNF(+/-)) mice were previously reported and both were exacerbated by a toxic methamphetamine binge. The current study asse...

Various growth factors (e.g., growth hormone-releasing hormone, acidic fibroblast growth factor, nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and interleukin-1) are implicated in sleep regulation. It is hypothesized that neuronal activity enhances the production of such growth factors, and they in turn form part of the sleep regulatory mechanism. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic ...

Nigrostriatal neurons expressing RET protein, a receptor protein tyrosine kinase of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) were investigated in rats using retrograde neural tracing with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) combined with immunohistochemistry. HR/RET double-labeled neurons were abundantly distributed in the substantia nigra pars compacta ipsilateral to the caudate-putamen ste...

The glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family of ligands (GFLs) comprising of GDNF, neurturin, artemin, and persephin plays an important role in the development and maintenance of the central and peripheral nervous system, renal morphogenesis, and spermatogenesis. Here we review our current understanding of GFL biology, and supported by recent progress in the area, we examine th...

Abbreviations: 6-hydroxydopamine, (6-OHDA); adeno-associated virus, (AAV); Alzheimer’s disease, (AD); amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, (ALS); brain derived neurotrophic factor, (BDNF); Core Program for Intracerebral Transplantations, (CAPIT); central nervous system, (CNS); ciliary neurotrophic factor, (CNTF); cerebrospinal fluid, (CSF); dopamine, dopaminergic, (DA); deoxyribonucleic acid, (DNA); ...

Cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) belongs to a newly discovered family of evolutionarily conserved neurotrophic factors. We demonstrate for the first time a therapeutic effect of CDNF in a unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesion model of Parkinson's disease in marmoset monkeys. Furthermore, we tested the impact of high chronic doses of human recombinant CDNF on unlesioned monkey...

Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) is a protein expressed throughout the mammalian nervous system that serves several protective functions. Originally discovered in the brain, where it supports the survival of dopaminergic neurons, GDNF has since been shown to be expressed in skeletal muscle and is vital for the maintenance of motor neurons. The relationship between muscle hyper...