Nerve growth factor in brain diseases

Abstract

The nerve growth factor (NGF) belongs to a family of proteins termed neurotrophins, consisting of NGF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), NT-4/5 and NT-6. Today, NGF is well recognized to mediate a large number of trophobiological actions resulting in neurotrophic, immunotrophic and/or metabotrophic effects. The pathobiology of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer disease, psychiatric disorders (e.g. depression and schizophrenia) and brain parasitic infections have in common the effect of altering the brain levels of neurotrophins and in particular NGF. The involvement of NGF and its TrkA receptor in these pathologies and the recent promising results of NGF therapies are presented and discussed.

Oxidative stress inhibition by resveratrol in alcohol-dependent mice

“…It's well known that they also regulate responses to drug abuse, including alcohol [20,21]. Numerous experimental pieces of evidences show that ethanol alters the expression of different neurotrophins in various brain areas [21,22], however little is known about the alcohol effects in non-neuronal tissues.…”

Nerve Growth Factor in Alcohol Use Disorders

“…This pathway induces the activation of Ras, a GTPase that phosphorylates the serine/threonine kinase Raf. This latter activates the MAPK cascade, which regulates the activity of several transcription factors, such as the cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), a transcription factor that translocates in the nucleus to control the expression of anti-apoptotic genes [ 16 , 17 ]. Although the receptor p75 does not contain a catalytic motif, it interacts with several proteins that regulate neuronal survival and differentiation, as well as synaptic plasticity.…”

“…It is also involved in the regulation of the immune system and the endocrine system, including the adipo endocrine system [ 25 - 27 ]. Consequently, altered expression of NGF and its receptors are involved in many seemingly unrelated diseases, including neuronal disorders (Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases) [ 17 , 28 - 30 ], aging [ 31 ], cancer physiology [ 32 - 35 ], ocular diseases [ 36 - 38 ], growth and development [ 33 , 34 , 39 ], autoimmune diseases (rheumatic arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and other autoimmune diseases) [ 40 ], pregnancy, delivery and postpartum [ 41 ], oxidative stress-related diseases [ 42 - 48 ], neuroinflammation caused by parasitic diseases [ 49 - 56 ], and cardiometabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity and metabolic syndrome [ 57 - 63 ]. Furthermore, pieces of evidence on humans indicate that NGF and its receptors are known to be altered in ethanol-induced toxicity, which is the inducing-cause of brain changes [ 64 , 65 ] and mental retardation [ 66 - 72 ].…”

Brainstem expression of SLC6A4, HTR2C, NGF, BDNF, TRKANGF, TRKBBDNF and P75NTR following paternal alcohol exposure in the male mouse

“…We have previously examined in the mouse brain (1) that PPAE may disrupt nerve growth factor (NGF) and/or brainderived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neuropeptides of the neurotrophins family playing crucial roles in the growth, development and survival of nerve cells, also in the pathobiology of cardiometabolic and neuropsychiatric diseases (42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58). We found that PPAE affected NGF levels in frontal cortex, striatum, olfactory lobes, hippocampus and hypothalamus.…”