Neurotrophic mechanisms

The BDNF and NGF signature

The single most reproducible thing Semax does in the laboratory is move the brain’s growth factors. Across many rodent studies it changes BDNF and NGF gene expression and protein levels in the hippocampus, frontal cortex, retina, and basal forebrain, most often upward, but the direction depends on the region and the time point.

This unit walks the neurotrophin cascade, maps where in the brain it has been measured, follows the time course of the effect, and is honest that this rich mechanism story is built almost entirely on animal data.