objective(s): occlusal trauma is one of the most common forms of oral biting dysfunction. long-term occlusal trauma could weaken the stomatognathic system; especially damage one’s masticatory muscle. through using the rat model, this study investigated the trophic effect of ciliary neurotrophic factor (cntf) on injured masseter muscle. materials and methods: male wistar rats (n=36) were randoml...

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) supports motor neuron survival in vitro and in mouse models of motor neuron degeneration and was considered a candidate for the muscle-derived neurotrophic activity that regulates motor neuron survival during development. However, CNTF expression is very low in the embryo, and CNTF gene mutations in mice or human do not result in notable abnormalities of the d...

Ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor alpha (CNTFR alpha) is essential for normal embryonic development and may be involved in postnatal and adult neuronal maintenance. In addition, a rapidly growing body of evidence suggests that CNTFR alpha serves as a site of action for future growth factor therapeutics capable of treating a wide variety of disorders resulting from neuronal loss. We raised tw...

The functional receptor complex of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), a member of the gp130 family of cytokines, is composed of CNTF, the CNTF receptor alpha (CNTFR), gp130, and the leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR). However, the nature of the receptor-mediated interactions in this complex has not yet been resolved. To address this issue we have determined the solution structure of th...

Neurotrophic factors have been implicated in reactive processes occurring in response to CNS lesions. Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), in particular, has been shown to ameliorate axotomy-induced degeneration of CNS neurons and to be upregulated at wound sites in the brain. To investigate a potential role of CNTF in lesion-induced degeneration and reorganization, we have analyzed the expressi...

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is presumed to play a role as a survival factor in neuronal cells, but little is known about its role in the kidney. To investigate this, the expression of CNTF and CNTF receptor alpha (CNTFR alpha) was analyzed in the ischemic rat kidney. An ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury was induced by clamping both renal arteries for 45 min. Animals were killed at 1, 2, ...

Previously, we reported that the nuclear orphan receptor TR4 could induce transcriptional activity via the 5th intron of the ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) alpha receptor gene (CNTFR-I5). Here we show CNTF could increase TR4 expression and enhance the DNA-binding capacity of TR4. Interestingly, the expression of TR2, a close family member of TR4, could also be induced by CNTF. In return, TR...

Ciliary neurotrophic factor was discovered based on its ability to support the survival of ciliary neurons, and is now known to act on a variety of neuronal and glial populations. Two distant relatives of ciliary neurotrophic factor, leukemia inhibitory factor and oncostatin M, mimic ciliary neurotrophic factor with respect to its actions on cells of the nervous system. In contrast to ciliary n...

OBJECTIVE This comparative in vitro study examined the effects of all known gp130 cytokines on murine corticotroph AtT-20 cell function. METHODS Cytokines were tested at equimolar concentrations from 0.078 to 10 nM. Tyrosine phosphorylation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3 and STAT1, the STAT-dependent suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-3 promoter activity,...

The cytokines that signal through the common receptor subunit gp130, including ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), interleukin-6, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and oncostatin M, have pleiotropic functions in CNS development. Given the restricted expression domain of the CNTF receptor alpha (CNTFR) in the developing forebrain germinal zone and adult forebrain periventricular area, we have exa...