Actions of Brain-Derived Neurotrophin Factor in the Neurogenesis and Neuronal Function, and Its Involvement in the Pathophysiology of Brain Diseases

Abstract

It is well known that brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF, has an important role in a variety of neuronal aspects, such as differentiation, maturation, and synaptic function in the central nervous system (CNS). BDNF stimulates mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK), phosphoinositide-3kinase (PI3K), and phospholipase C (PLC)-gamma pathways via activation of tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB), a high affinity receptor for BDNF. Evidence has shown significant contributions of these signaling pathways in neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity in in vivo and in vitro experiments. Importantly, it has been demonstrated that dysfunction of the BDNF/TrkB system is involved in the onset of brain diseases, including neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. In this review, we discuss actions of BDNF and related signaling molecules on CNS neurons, and their contributions to the pathophysiology of brain diseases.

dBcAMP Rescues the Neurons From Degeneration in Kainic Acid-Injured Hippocampus, Enhances Neurogenesis, Learning, and Memory

“…The survival and the growth of dopaminergic neurons in vitro was shown to be increased significantly by dBcAMP and enhanced when it is used along with GDNF or BDNF (Lara et al, 2003). The neurotrophic factors (BDNF, bFGF, VEGF, NGF, and GDNF) are known to stimulate adult neurogenesis (Cao et al, 2004;Kang and Hébert, 2015;Wei et al, 2015;Han et al, 2017;Numakawa et al, 2018). Thus, the observed enhanced neurogenesis in our present study may be due to the enhancement of the abovementioned neurotrophic factor/s.…”

“…Therefore, strategies that enhance the potential of the brain have significant roles in functional recovery after neural injury. Neurotrophic factors, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), are known to stimulate adult neurogenesis (Cao et al, 2004;Kang and Hébert, 2015;Wei et al, 2015;Han et al, 2017;Numakawa et al, 2018). In addition, other factors such as dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate (dBcAMP), an analog of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), have been reported to promote functional recovery in the spinal cord injury (Myeku et al, 2012;Xia et al, 2013).…”

A Comprehensive Transcriptome Analysis Identifies FXN and BDNF as Novel Targets of miRNAs in Friedreich’s Ataxia Patients

“…Importantly, BDNF received the highest probability score among the miRNA-10a-5p targets predicted by TargetScan [35]. BDNF is a neurotrophic factor that regulates the function of the nervous system through various mechanisms, such as the maintenance of neuron development, synaptic plasticity, and neurotransmitter release [52][53][54]. Expression of the BDNF gene is reduced in patients with several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease [38][39][40].…”

Felbamate produces antidepressant‐like actions in the chronic unpredictable mild stress and chronic social defeat stress models of depression

“…This is the first instance of experimental evidence showing that felbamate has promoting effects on the BDNF system. It is known that BDNF has a lot of physiological effects in the brain, playing critical roles in learning and memory, hippocampal neurogenesis, neuronal survival, and many others [44][45][46][47][48]. BDNF is implicated in the pathophysiology of many neurological disorders in addition to depression, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease [48][49][50][51][52].…”