Neuronal survival, growth and differentiation in the developing brain and spinal cord are dependant upon the presence of specific growth factors called neurotrophins. These include nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), and neurotrophin-4/5 and function to regulate neuronal survival and differentiation during the development of the vertebrate...

BACKGROUND Neurotrophin receptors were initially identified in neural cells. They were recently detected in some cancers in association with invasiveness, but the function of these tyrosine kinase receptors was not previously investigated in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. METHODS AND FINDINGS We report herein that human CRC cell lines synthesize the neural growth factor Brain-derived neurotro...

Myelin inhibitors activate a p75(NTR)-dependent signaling cascade in neurons that not only inhibits axonal growth but also prevents neurotrophins (NT) from stimulating growth. Most intriguingly, in addition to Trk receptors, neurotrophins also bind to p75(NTR). We have designed a "mini-neurotrophin" called B(AG) to activate TrkB in the absence of p75(NTR) binding. We find that B(AG) is as effec...

The sorting signals that direct proteins to the apical surface of polarized epithelial cells are complex and can include posttranslational modifications, such as N- and O-linked glycosylation. Efficient apical sorting of the neurotrophin receptor p75 is dependent on its O-glycosylated membrane proximal stalk, but how this domain mediates targeting is unknown. Protein oligomerization or clusteri...

Ventilator-induced lung injury plays a crucial role in the outcome of patients with acute lung injury. Previous studies have shown a role for the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) in stretch-induced alveolar neutrophil recruitment, but the involvement of TNF in stretch-induced pulmonary edema is unclear. We investigated the effects of TNF through its individual p55 and p75 receptors on...

Neurotrophins belonging to the class of growth factors and including nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and neurotrophin-4/5 (NT-4/5) are widely recognized as essential factors in the developing central nervous system (CNS). Neurotrophins are synthesized as precursor forms (proneurotrophins). Mature forms of neurotrophins exert their effec...

PC12-27, a PC12 clone characterized by high levels of the transcription repressor REST and by very low mTORC2 activity, had been shown to be unresponsive to NGF, possibly because of its lack of the specific TrkA receptor. The neurotrophin receptor repressed by high REST in PC12-27 cells, however, is shown now to be not TrkA, which is normal, but p75(NTR), whose expression is inhibited at the tr...