To begin to identify novel protein(s) that acts on nigral dopaminergic (DA) neurons, we characterized trophic effects of DA-depleted striatum on survival of fetal DA neurons in the present study. Treatment of ventral mesencephalic cultures with the striatal extracts delayed DA cell death in a dose-dependent manner. This effect was partially dependent on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF),...

L-DOPA is toxic to catecholamine neurons in culture, but the toxicity is reduced by exposure to astrocytes. We tested the effect of L-DOPA on dopamine neurons using postnatal ventral midbrain neuron/cortical astrocyte cocultures in serum-free, glia-conditioned medium. L-DOPA (50 microM) protected against dopamine neuronal cell death and increased the number and branching of dopamine processes. ...

Increasing evidence indicated astroglia-derived neurotrophic factors generation might hold a promising therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD). Resveratrol, naturally present in red wine and grapes with potential benefit for health, is well known to possess a number of pharmacological activities. Besides the antineuroinflammatory properties, we hypothesized the neuroprotective potency of resveratr...

low glucose condition induces neuronal cell-death via intracellular mechanisms including mitogen-activated protein kinases (mapk) signaling pathways. it has been shown that low glucose medium decreases neuronal survival in cerebellar granule neurons (cgns). in this study, we have examined the activation of jnk, p38kinase and erk1/2 pathways in low glucose medium in cgns. the cgns were prepared ...

background and purpose: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (bdnf) is present in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex in high concentrations and has an important role in development, maintenance and regeneration of the nervous system. the aim of this study was to produce active bdnf in e.coli using transforming plasmid. methods: to construct an expression plasmid of bdnf, a gene coding for it was ...

Mechanisms regulating the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a member of the neurotrophin family, have been extensively studied in the rat cerebral cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum. In contrast, little is known regarding the regulation of this growth factor in the hypothalamus. Here we present an analysis of the regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor messenger RNA level...

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons and a biochemical reduction of striatal dopamine levels. Despite the lack of fully understanding of the etiology of Parkinson's disease, accumulating evidences suggest that Parkinson's disease may be caused by the insufficient support of neurotrophic fac...

background: it has been known that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (bdnf) is involved in neural survival and long term memory (ltm). here we hypothesized that bdnf as a potent neurotrophic factor might modulate amnestic effect induced by morphine. objectives: the aim of this study was to examine whether infusion of exogenous bdnf in the ca1 regions of the dorsal hippocampi could ameliorate me...