Neurotrophic Factors Gordon Conference

Neurotrophic factors play essential roles in the developing and mature nervous system.While nerve growth factor(NGF)wasthe first neurotrophic factor when it was identified more than50years ago,a large set of related and

Neurotrophic factors play essential roles in the developing and mature nervous system. While nerve growth factor （NGF） was the first neurotrophic factor when it was identified more than 50 years ago, a large set of related and unrelated extracellular proteins are now known to exert neurotrophic effects in the developing and mature nervous system. The roles of neurotrophic factors include regulation of cell proliferation, survival, differentiation, migration, axon and dendrite growth, synaptic plasticity and the interactions of neuronal and glial cells. As a result, neurotrophic factors affect complex behaviors including feeding, anxiety,