BDNF pro-peptide: a novel synaptic modulator generated as an N-terminal fragment from the BDNF precursor by proteolytic processing

Toshiyuki Mizui; Koji Ohira; Masami Kojima

doi:10.4103/1673-5374.211173

BDNF pro-peptide: a novel synaptic modulator generated as an N-terminal fragment from the BDNF precursor by proteolytic processing

Neural Regen Res. 2017 Jul;12(7):1024-1027. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.211173.

Authors

Toshiyuki Mizui^{1

2}, Koji Ohira³, Masami Kojima^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Biomedical Research Inst. (BMD), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Osaka, Japan.
² Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Science and Technology Agency (JST), Kawaguchi, Japan.
³ Laboratory of Nutritional Brain Science, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Mukogawa Women's University, Hyogo, Japan.
⁴ Graduate School of Frontier Bioscience, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.

Abstract

Most growth factors are initially synthesized as precursors and it was cleaved into bioactive mature domain and pro-domain. However, compared with the expression and function of bioactive mature domain, the biological role of the pro-domain is poorly understood. Unexpectedly, we found that the pro-domain (or pro-peptide) of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is well-known neurotrophic factor in brain, has a potential ability to facilitate hippocampal long-term depression. Furthermore, a BDNF polymorphism Val66Met, which substitute valine into methionine at 66 amino acid, impacted the biological activity of the BDNF pro-peptide. We lastly discuss the possible roles of BDNF and its pro-peptide in the generation of neural stem cells and progress of ischemia.

Keywords: BDNF; growth factor; ischemia; neural stem cells; peptide.

Publication types

Review