(another growth factor for brain recovery? hope amgen is not sold the patent...)
Brain Res. 2007 Feb 22; [Epub ahead of print] Related Articles, Links


Role of heparin binding growth factors in nigrostriatal dopamine system development and Parkinson's disease.

Marchionini DM, Lehrmann E, Chu Y, He B, Sortwell CE, Becker KG, Freed WJ, Kordower JH, Collier TJ.

Rush University Medical Center, Dept. Neurological Sciences, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.

The developmental biology of the dopamine (DA) system may hold important clues to its reconstruction. We hypothesized that factors highly expressed during nigrostriatal development and re-expressed after injury and disease may play a role in protection and reconstruction of the nigrostriatal system. Examination of gene expression in the developing striatum suggested an important role for the heparin binding growth factor family at time points relevant to establishment of dopaminergic innervation. Midkine, pleiotrophin (PTN), and their receptors syndecan-3 and receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase beta/zeta, were highly expressed in the striatum during development. Furthermore, PTN was up-regulated in the degenerating substantia nigra of Parkinson's patients. The addition of PTN to ventral mesencephalic cultures augmented DA neuron survival and neurite outgrowth. Thus, PTN was identified as a factor that plays a role in the nigrostriatal system during development and in response to disease, and may therefore be useful for neuroprotection or reconstruction of the DA system.

PMID: 17368428 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]