神经营养因子与神经长和修复.pptVIP

Neurotrophic factors and Their receptors Huang Shu-Hong Institute of neurobiology For decades, scientists believed that brain cells of the central nervous system could not regrow following damage due to trauma such as head injury or disorders such as Alzheimers disease. Treatments did not exist. The outlook was bleak.  But now that thinking has been turned upside down. Scientists recently have discovered a whole family of proteins called neurotrophic factors. These proteins play a crucial role in the development and survival of nerve cells, or neurons, and in supporting adult neurons to keep them healthy throughout life. The neurotrophic factor hypothesis Effect of Removing or Augmenting Neural Targets on the Survival of Related Neurons PN23092.JPG Summary Neurotrophic factors play essential roles in the developing and mature nervous system. Now more than 50 years old, this field of study continues to contribute breakthrough discoveries regarding the fundamental biology of cell-cell communication and the development and maintenance of the most complex and elegant biological machine - the brain. Neurotrophic factors influence cell proliferation, survival, differentiation, migration, axon and dendrite growth, synaptic plasticity and the interactions of neuronal and glial cells. What is a growth factor ?What is a trophic factor ? DEFINITION Growth factors include substances that stimulate cells to divide (hyperplasia) or increase in size (hypertrophy). Many growth factors are now known to exist Trophic factors include those substances that have effects on cell differentiation, cell survival, expression of a specific cellular phenotype (e.g. a cell becomes an inhibitory or an excitatory neuron), cellular morphological plasticity, as well as cell hypertrophy including, for example, the induction of neurite extention (also considered a trophic action). Importantly, some growth factors may also act as trophic factors and viceversa and each growth/trophic factor may