Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Strelau J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3320210 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 20091001 43
Growth/differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is a widely expressed distant member of the TGF-beta superfamily with prominent neurotrophic effects on midbrain dopaminergic neurons. We show here that GDF-15-deficient mice exhibit progressive postnatal losses of spinal, facial, and trigeminal motoneurons. This deficit reaches a approximately 20% maximum at 6 months and is accompanied by losses of motor axons and significant impairment of rotarod skills. Similarly, sensory neurons in dorsal root gangli ...[more]