Anti-Human BDNF Purified No Carrier Protein (Clone: 37141)

BDNF is a member of the NGF family of neurotrophic growth factors. Like other members of this family, BDNF supports neuron proliferation and survival. BDNF acts on certain neurons of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system, helping to support the survival of existing neurons and encourage the growth and differentiation of new neurons and synapses. In the brain, it is active in the hippocampus, cortex, and basal forebrain—areas vital to learning, memory, and higher thinking. Despite its name, BDNF is actually found in a range of tissue and cell types, not just in the brain. It is also expressed in the retina, the CNS, motor neurons, the kidneys, and the prostate.

BDNF binds at least two receptors on the surface of cells which are capable of responding to this growth factor, TrkB (pronounced "Track B") and the LNGFR (for "low affinity nerve growth factor receptor"). TrkB is a receptor tyrosine kinase (meaning it mediates its actions by causing the addition of phosphate molecules on certain tyrosines in the cell, activating cellular signaling).