《Neurotrophic factors：from neurodevelopmental regulators to novel therapies for Parkinson’s disease》.pdfVIP

NEURAL REGENERATION RESEARCH October 2014,Volume 9,Issue 19 INVITED REVIEW Neurotrophic factors: from neurodevelopmental regulators to novel therapies for Parkinson’s disease Shane V. Hegarty, Gerard W. O’Keeffe, Aideen M. Sullivan Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, Biosciences Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland Abstract Gerard W. O’Keeffe and Aideen M. Neuroprotection and neuroregeneration are two of the most promising disease-modifying ther- Sullivan contributed equally to this work. apies for the incurable and widespread Parkinson’s disease. In Parkinson’s disease, progressive degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons causes debilitating motor symptoms. Neu- Corresponding author: rotrophic factors play important regulatory roles in the development, survival and maintenance Aideen M. Sullivan, Ph.D., Department of specific neuronal populations. These factors have the potential to slow down, halt or reverse of Anatomy and Neuroscience, Biosciences the loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s disease. Several neurotrophic fac- Institute, University College Cork, Cork, tors have been investigated in this regard. This review article discusses the neurodevelopmental Ireland, a.sullivan@ucc.ie. roles and therapeutic potential of three dopaminergic neurotrophic factors: glial cell line-derived Gerard W. O’Keeffe, Ph.D., Department neurotrophic factor, neurturin and growth/differentiation factor 5. of Anatomy and Neuroscience, Biosciences Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Key Words: Parkinson’s disease; neuroprotection; neurotrophic factors; nervous system development; Ireland, g.okeeffe@ucc.ie. nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons; glial ce