Abstract
Hippocampal levels of mRNA encoding nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are rapidly induced by enhanced neuronal activity following seizures and glutamate or muscarinic receptor activation. However, the levels of neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) mRNA acutely decrease after limbic seizures suggesting that a different mode of regulation may exist for these neurotrophins. Here we show that BDNF and neurotrophin-4 (NT-4), but not NT-3 itself, up-regulate NT-3 mRNA in cultured hippocampal neurons. In the rat hippocampus, the muscarinic receptor agonist, pilocarpine increased BDNF mRNA levels rapidly and those of NT-3 with a delay of several hours. Injection of BDNF into neonatal rats elevated NT-3 mRNA in the hippocampus which demonstrates that BDNF is able to enhance NT-3 expression in vivo. The regulation of NT-3 by BDNF and NT-4 enlargens the neurotrophic spectrum of these neurotrophins to include neuron populations responsive primarily to NT-3.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 745-751 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1994 |
Keywords
- BDNF
- NT-3
- NT-4
- neurotrophins
- trk receptors