1. New insights into the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in synaptic plasticity
- Author
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Baoji Xu and Emily G. Waterhouse
- Subjects
Dendritic Spines ,Nonsynaptic plasticity ,Nerve Tissue Proteins ,Biology ,Hippocampus ,Synaptic Transmission ,Article ,Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience ,Metaplasticity ,Animals ,Receptor, trkB ,Protein Precursors ,Molecular Biology ,Neuronal memory allocation ,Neuronal Plasticity ,Synaptic scaling ,Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ,Long-term potentiation ,Cell Biology ,Cell biology ,Synaptic fatigue ,Protein Biosynthesis ,Synapses ,Synaptic plasticity ,Developmental plasticity ,Neuroscience - Abstract
Substantial evidence indicates that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a crucial role in synaptic plasticity. Long-lasting synaptic plasticity is restricted to active synapses and requires new protein synthesis. Recent work has identified local protein synthesis as an important source for new protein during the expression of enduring synaptic plasticity. This review discusses recent progress in understanding the mechanisms that restrict the action of BDNF to active synapses and by which BDNF mediates chemical and structural modifications of individual synapses, placing an emphasis on the role of local protein synthesis in these processes.
- Published
- 2009