Lewin G R, Barde Y A
Max-Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Department of Neurobiochemistry, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.
Annu Rev Neurosci. 1996;19:289-317. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ne.19.030196.001445.
The neurotrophins are a small group of dimeric proteins that profoundly affect the development of the nervous system of vertebrates. Recent studies have established clear correlations between the survival requirements for different neurotrophins of functionally distinct subsets of sensory neurons. The biological role of the neurotrophins is not limited to the prevention of programmed cell death of specific groups of neurons during development. Neurotrophin-3 in particular seems to act on neurons well before the period of target innervation and of normally occurring cell death. In animals lacking functional neurotrophin or receptor genes, neuronal numbers do not seem to be massively reduced in the CNS, unlike in the PNS. Finally, rapid actions of neurotrophins on synaptic efficacy, as well as the regulation of their mRNAs by electrical activity, suggest that neurotrophins might play important roles in regulating neuronal connectivity in the developing and in the adult central nervous system.
神经营养因子是一小类二聚体蛋白，对脊椎动物神经系统的发育有着深远影响。最近的研究已明确了功能不同的感觉神经元亚群对不同神经营养因子的存活需求之间的关联。神经营养因子的生物学作用并不局限于在发育过程中预防特定神经元群体的程序性细胞死亡。特别是神经营养因子-3似乎在靶标神经支配期和正常发生的细胞死亡期之前就对神经元起作用。在缺乏功能性神经营养因子或受体基因的动物中，中枢神经系统中的神经元数量似乎不像在周围神经系统中那样大量减少。最后，神经营养因子对突触效能的快速作用以及电活动对其mRNA的调节表明，神经营养因子可能在发育中和成体中枢神经系统中调节神经元连接方面发挥重要作用。
