Influence of brain-derived neurotrophic factor on pathfinding of dentate granule cell axons, the hippocampal mossy fibers.

Mossy fibers, the dentate granule cell axons, are generated throughout an animal's lifetime. Mossy fiber paths and synapses are primarily restricted to the stratum lucidum within the CA3 region. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurotrophin family protein that activates Trk neurotrophin receptors, is highly expressed in the stratum lucidum in an activity-dependent manner.

A low-cost method for brain slice cultures.

Low-cost, simple procedures for organotypic tissue cultures are desirable for high-throughput biological experiments such as large-scale medical/drug screening. We present a practical and economical method to cultivate brain slices using hydrophilic filtration membranes. With a cost reduction of more than 90%, this technique allows us to prepare hippocampal slice cultures that are morphologically and functionally indistinguishable from those obtained by the widely used Millicell-CM method.

Conserved role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in Val66Met: target-selective reinforcement of GABAergic synapses.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor has been implicated in higher cognitive functions, and several neurological and psychiatric disorders. Recently, a variant brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNFMet), having a substitution referred to as Val66Met, was reported as a product of a bdnf allele with a common single nucleotide polymorphism. It has been reported that BDNFMet is impaired in its potential for activity-dependent release.