BACKGROUND The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) is a cancer stem cell (CSC) marker in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). This study aimed to assess the use of p75NTR in detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in ESCC. METHODS Peripheral blood mononuclear cell expression of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and p75NTR was detected in 23 ESCC patients (13 received chemo- or c...

Medulloblastomas (MBs) are primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) of the cerebellum. They represent the most frequent malignant pediatric brain tumors, but their origin still remains unresolved and controversial. MB cells correspond to different stages of neural development and differentiation as illustrated by their expression of neuronal and glial markers. In the present study, we examined t...

Emerging evidence suggests that the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) mediates cell death; however, it is not known whether p75NTR negatively regulates other neuronal phenotypes. We found that mice null for p75NTR displayed highly significant increases in the size of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, including those that are TrkA-positive. Cholinergic hippocampal target innervation also was...

The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR, also known as tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 16) is implicated in diverse cellular events, but fundamental aspects of its signaling mechanisms remain unclear. To address this, we have established a novel bioassay to characterize signaling cascades activated by p75NTR. We show that in COS7 cells, p75NTR expression causes a large increase ...

The topology and trafficking of receptors play a key role in their signalling capability. Indeed, receptor function is related to the microenvironment inside the cell, where specific signalling molecules are compartmentalized. The response to NGF (nerve growth factor) is strongly dependent on the trafficking of its receptor, TrkA. However, information is still scarce about the role of the cellu...

The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR), a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, facilitates apoptosis during development and after injury to the CNS. The signaling cascades activated by p75NTR that result in apoptosis remain poorly understood. In this study, we show that overexpression of p75NTR in primary cortical neurons, in pheochromocytoma cell line (PC12) cells, and in ...

p75NTR, a member of TNF receptor family, is the low affinity receptor common to several mature neurotrophins and the high affinity receptor for pro-neurotrophins. Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), a member of neurotrophin family has been described to play an important role in development and progression of several cancers, through its binding to a high affinity tyrosine kinase receptor ...

Axonal damage and demyelination are major determinants of disability in patients with peripheral demyelinating neuropathies. The neurotrophin family of growth factors are essential for the normal development and myelination of the peripheral nervous system (PNS), and as such are potential therapeutic candidates for ameliorating axonal and myelin damage. In particular, BDNF promotes peripheral n...

Mitotically quiescent cancer stem cells (CSC) are hypothesized to exhibit a more aggressive phenotype involving greater therapeutic resistance and metastasis. The aim of our study was to develop a method for identifying quiescent CSC in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) based on their expression of the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) and other proposed CSC markers, such as CD44 and C...

Rabies virus (RABV) is a neurotropic virus that depends on long distance axonal transport in order to reach the central nervous system (CNS). The strategy RABV uses to hijack the cellular transport machinery is still not clear. It is thought that RABV interacts with membrane receptors in order to internalize and exploit the endosomal trafficking pathway, yet this has never been demonstrated dir...