Search results for "Growth factors"
showing 10 items of 118 documents
Central nicotinic receptors, neurotrophic factors and neuroprotection
2000
The multiple combinations of nAChR subunits identified in central nervous structures possess distinct pharmacological and physiological properties. A growing number of data have shown that compounds interacting with neuronal nAChRs have, both in vivo and in vitro, the potential to be neuroprotective and that treatment with nAChR agonists elicit long-lasting improving of cognitive performance in a variety of behavioural tests in rats, monkeys and humans. Epidemiological and clinical studies suggested also a potential neuroprotective/trophic role of (-)-nicotine in neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Taken together experimental and clinical data largely ind…
Vascular niche factor PEDF modulates Notch-dependent stemness in the adult subependymal zone.
2009
We sought to address the fundamental question of how stem cell microenvironments can regulate self-renewal. We found that Notch was active in astroglia-like neural stem cells (NSCs), but not in transit-amplifying progenitors of the murine subependymal zone, and that the level of Notch transcriptional activity correlated with self-renewal and multipotency. Moreover, dividing NSCs appeared to balance renewal with commitment via controlled segregation of Notch activity, leading to biased expression of known (Hes1) and previously unknown (Egfr) Notch target genes in daughter cells. Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) enhanced Notch-dependent transcription in cells with low Notch signaling,…
Neurotrophin secretion: current facts and future prospects
2003
The proteins of the mammalian neurotrophin family (nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and neurotrophin-4/5 (NT-4/5)) were originally identified as neuronal survival factors. During the last decade, evidence has accumulated implicating them (especially BDNF) in addition in the regulation of synaptic transmission and synaptogenesis in the CNS. However, a detailed understanding of the secretion of neurotrophins from neurons is required to delineate their role in regulating synaptic function. Some crucial questions that need to be addressed include the sites of neurotrophin secretion (i.e. axonal versus dendritic; synaptic versus extrasyna…
EGFL7 ligates αvβ3 integrin to enhance vessel formation
2013
Angiogenesis, defined as blood vessel formation from a preexisting vasculature, is governed by multiple signal cascades including integrin receptors, in particular integrin αVβ3. Here we identify the endothelial cell (EC)-secreted factor epidermal growth factor-like protein 7 (EGFL7) as a novel specific ligand of integrin αVβ3, thus providing mechanistic insight into its proangiogenic actions in vitro and in vivo. Specifically, EGFL7 attaches to the extracellular matrix and by its interaction with integrin αVβ3 increases the motility of EC, which allows EC to move on a sticky underground during vessel remodeling. We provide evidence that the deregulation of EGFL7 in zebrafish embryos leads …
Neuromuscular junction disassembly and muscle fatigue in mice lacking neurotrophin-4
2001
Neurotrophin-4 (NT-4) is produced by slow muscle fibers in an activity-dependent manner and promotes growth and remodeling of adult motorneuron innervation. However, both muscle fibers and motor neurons express NT-4 receptors, suggesting bidirectional NT-4 signaling at the neuromuscular junction. Mice lacking NT-4 displayed enlarged and fragmented neuromuscular junctions with disassembled postsynaptic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters, reduced AChR binding, and acetylcholinesterase activity. Electromyographic responses, posttetanic potentiation, and action potential amplitude were also significantly reduced in muscle fibers from NT-4 knock-out mice. Slow-twitch soleus muscles from thes…
Activation of gp 130 by IL-6/soluble IL-6 receptor induces neuronal differentiation
1998
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) on target cells binds to the specific IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) and subsequently induces homodimerization of the signal-transducing protein gp130. Cells which express gp130 but no IL-6R and which therefore do not respond to IL-6 can be stimulated by the complex of IL-6 and soluble IL-6R (slL-6R). Here we show that on rat pheochromocytoma cells (PC12), the combination of IL-6 and slL-6R but not IL-6 alone induces expression of c-fos, GAP-43 and neuron-specific enolase followed by neuron-specific differentiation and formation of a neuronal network. The differentiation was dose-and time-dependent and followed the same kinetics as nerve-growth factor (NGF)-induced differentiati…
Mistranslation Drives Alterations in Protein Levels and the Effects of a Synonymous Variant at the Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Locus.
2021
This article also appears in: Health, Medical, and Life Sciences Virtual Issue for Advanced Science.
The b1 isoform of protocadherin-gamma (Pcdhgamma) interacts with the microtubule-destabilizing protein SCG10.
2004
Due to their structural characteristics and their diversity, the 22 members of the protocadherin-gamma (Pcdhgamma) family have been suggested to contribute to the establishment of specific connections in the nervous system. Here, we focus on a single isoform, Pcdhgamma-b1. Its expression is found in different brain regions and in developing spinal cord it is restricted to scattered cells, whereas all cells are labeled using an antibody that recognizes all Pcdhgamma isoforms. As a first step to understanding the signaling mechanisms downstream of Pcdhgamma, we identify the microtubule-destabilizing protein SCG10 as a cytoplasmic interactor for Pcdhgamma-b1 and other isoforms of the Pcdhgamma…
Physical exercise in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease
2020
Highlights • Low levels of physical activity are a risk factor associated with Alzheimer's disease. • Older adults who exercise are more likely to maintain cognition. • Exercise modulates amyloid β turnover, inflammation, synthesis, and release of neurotrophins, and cerebral blood flow.
Cytomegalovirus inhibits the engraftment of donor bone marrow cells by downregulation of hemopoietin gene expression in recipient stroma
1998
ABSTRACT Cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease after bone marrow (BM) transplantation is often associated with BM graft failure. There are two possible reasons for such a correlation. First, a poor hematopoietic reconstitution of unrelated etiology could promote the progression of CMV infection by the lack of immune control. Alternatively, CMV infection could interfere with the engraftment of donor BM cells in recipient BM stroma. Evidence for a causative role of CMV in BM aplasia came from studies in long-term BM cultures and from the murine in vivo model of CMV-induced aplastic anemia. A deficiency in the expression of essential stromal hemopoietins, such as stem cell factor (SCF), has indicated …