| Modification Notes |
Neurotrophins function to regulate naturally occurring cell death of neurons during development. The prototype neurotrophin is nerve growth factor (NGF). NGF is a soluble peptide that promotes the survival of, and neurite outgrowth from, sympathetic ganglia. Three additional structurally homologous neurotrophic factors have been identified. These include brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), and neurotrophin-4 (NT-4, also designated NT-5). Neuritin is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein that is induced by neural activity as well as by BDNF and NT-3. Neuritin modulates neurite growth extracellularly and is present in development and in the adult nervous system, indicating its involvement in neuronal plasticity. In addition to BDNF induction of Neuritin, it has been shown that both Neuritin and BDNF are induced by light stimulation of the visual cortex. Neuritin appears to be located downstream of BDNF and may mediate some of the effects of BDNF |