Expression and function of growth hormone in the nervous system: a brief review.
There is increasing evidence that growth hormone (GH) expression is not confined exclusively to the pituitary somatotrophs as it is synthesized in many extrapituitary locations. The nervous system is one of those extrapituitary sites. In this brief review we summarize data that substantiate the expression, distribution and characterization of neural GH and detail its roles in neural function, including cellular growth, proliferation, differentiation, neuroprotection and survival, as well as its functional roles in behavior, cognition and neurotransmission. Although systemic GH may exert some of these effects, it is increasingly evident that locally expressed neural GH, acting through intracrine, autocrine or paracrine mechanisms, may also be causally involved as a neurotrophic factor.
Departamento de Neurobiología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Querétaro 76230, México. Electronic address: aramburo@unam.mx.
Carlos
C
Arámburo
Departamento de Neurobiología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Querétaro 76230, México.
Clara
C
Alba-Betancourt
Departamento de Neurobiología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Querétaro 76230, México.
Maricela
M
Luna
Department of Physiology, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2H7, Canada.
Steve
S
Harvey
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D019899:Paracrine Communication / Q000502:physiology*
D013006:Growth Hormone
Apoptosis; Cerebellum; Growth hormone; Hippocampus; Neural GH; Neuroprotection