The neurotrophins (“neuro” means nerve and “trophe” means nutrient)1 are a family of soluble, basic growth factors which regulate neuronal development, maintenance, survival and death in the central and peripheral nervous systems2. They include NGF, the first member of the family to be discovered, BDNF, NT3 and NT4/5. Their actions are mediated by two types of receptors: the Trk family, which matches each neurotrophin to its own receptor3, and p75NTR which is a universal neurotrophin receptor4.
The neurotrophins have been shown to affect dendritic and axonal growth5, efficacy of synaptic transmission6. maturation of synaptic contacts, density of synaptic
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