Activity-Dependent Transfer of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor to Postsynaptic Neurons

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 291; no. 5512; pp. 2419 - 2423
• Main Authors: Kohara, Keigo, Kitamura, Akihiko, Morishima, Mieko, Tsumoto, Tadaharu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 23.03.2001; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Newborn; Antibodies; Axonal Transport; Axons; Axons - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - genetics; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - metabolism; Cell Nucleus - metabolism; Cells, Cultured; Cerebral cortex; Complementary DNA; Dendrites - metabolism; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA, Complementary; Fluorescence; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Immunohistochemistry; Isolated neuron and nerve. Neuroglia; Luminescent Proteins - metabolism; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Microtubule-Associated Proteins - analysis; Microtubule-Associated Proteins - immunology; Nerve growth factor; Neurites; Neurites - metabolism; Neurology; Neuronal Plasticity; Neurons; Neurons - drug effects; Neurons - metabolism; Neuroscience; Plasmids; Protein Transport; Proteins; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - metabolism; Superposition principle; Synapses - metabolism; tau Proteins - analysis; tau Proteins - immunology; Tetrodotoxin - pharmacology; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Visual Cortex - cytology; Japan; Neurotrophin; Cerebral cortex; Electrical activity; Rodentia; Central nervous system; Electrophysiology; In vitro; Neurotrophic factor; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Mouse; Axoplasmic transport; Plasticity; Transfer; Postsynaptic neuron; Brain derived neurotrophic factor; Brain (vertebrata); Growth factor
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1057415

Neurotrophins such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are thought to be transferred from post- to presynaptic neurons and to be involved in the formation and plasticity of neural circuits. However, direct evidence for a transneuronal transfer of BDNF and its relation to neuronal activity remains elusive. We simultaneously injected complementary DNAs of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged BDNF and red fluorescence protein into the nucleus of single neurons and visualized expression, localization, and transport of BDNF in living neurons. Fluorescent puncta representing BDNF moved in axons in the anterograde direction, though some moved retrogradely, and transferred to postsynaptic neurons in an activity-dependent manner.