title: Molecular cloning of a human gene that is a member of the nerve growth factor family.
abstract: Cell death within the developing vertebrate nervous system is regulated in part by interactions between neurons and their innervation targets that are mediated by neurotrophic factors. These factors also appear to have a role in the maintenance of the adult nervous system. Two neurotrophic factors, nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, share substantial amino acid sequence identity. We have used a screen that combines polymerase chain reaction amplification of genomic DNA and low-stringency hybridization with degenerate oligonucleotides to isolate human BDNF and a human gene, neurotrophin-3, that is closely related to both nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. mRNA products of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3 genes were detected in the adult human brain, suggesting that these proteins are involved in the maintenance of the adult nervous system. Neurotrophin-3 is also expected to function in embryonic neural development.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California-San Francisco 94143.
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Reichardt
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D003001:Cloning, Molecular / Q000379:methods; D005796:Genes; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D009928:Organ Specificity; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes