The gene encoding the receptor-tyrosine kinase RET was first discovered more than three
decades ago, and activating RET rearrangements and mutations have since been identified …

The RET receptor tyrosine kinase is crucial for normal development but also contributes to
pathologies that reflect both the loss and the gain of RET function. Activation of RET occurs …

A targeted effort to identify novel neurotrophic factors for midbrain dopaminergic neurons
resulted in the isolation of GDNF (glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor) from the …

In Parkinson's disease, brain dopamine neurons degenerate most prominently in the
substantia nigra. Neurotrophic factors promote survival, differentiation and maintenance of …

Transcription factors involved in the specification and differentiation of neurons often
continue to be expressed in the adult brain, but remarkably little is known about their late …

The AP-1 transcription factor c-Jun is a master regulator of the axonal response in neurons.
c-Jun also functions as a negative regulator of myelination in Schwann cells (SCs) and is …

Glial cell line–derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and its close relative neurturin are
currently in clinical trials for neuroprotection in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) …

In Parkinson disease (PD), affected midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons lose specific
dopaminergic properties before the neurons die. How the phenotype of DA neurons is …

Midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and ventral
tegmental area regulate extrapyramidal movement and important cognitive functions …

Astrocytes are critical participants in synapse development and function, but their role in
synaptic plasticity is unclear. Eph receptors and their ephrin ligands have been suggested to …